Staff of Reuters 3 Minutes to Read (Adds details, background) (Reuters) – PARIS, July 16 (Reuters) – Sudan has agreed to cancel $14 billion in debt and restructure the rest of the more than $23 billion it owes, according to Paris Club chairman Emmanuel Moulin on Friday. Moulin urged Sudan’s other private and public creditors to grant the country debt relief on the same terms as the deal reached on Thursday. Sudan became eligible for aid after being accepted into the IMF’s Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative last month based on a commitment to macroeconomic reforms. According to Moulin, the Paris Club agreement cancels $14.1 billion outright and reschedules $9.4 billion with long enough grace periods that Sudan will not have to make payments until 2024. “This significant effort demonstrates the international community’s support for Sudan’s democratic transition and will aid Sudan’s re-engagement with the international financial community, reform policies, and poverty-fighting efforts,” Moulin said. Sudan’s Paris Club debt, which totals $23.5 billion and is made up of more than 99 percent arrears and late interest dating back to the 1980s, accounts for a significant portion of the country’s total debt to foreign creditors, which totals more than $56 billion. “Outside of the Paris Club, we will seek similar or better results with creditor countries. This is a promising start “Gebreil Ibrahim, the Finance Minister, said on Twitter. Sudan owes non-Paris Club countries a total of $20.3 billion, including Kuwait, Sudan’s largest creditor at $9.8 billion, Saudi Arabia, and China. It also owes at least $6.5 billion to commercial lenders. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, and the Czech Republic, all non-members of the Paris Club, said in a statement that they would provide debt relief to Sudan on terms similar to those agreed with the Paris Club. Austria, France, and the United States are Sudan’s main creditors in the Paris Club. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; additional reporting by Mahmoud Mourad in Cairo Editing by Alison Williams, John Stonestreet and Nick Macfie)/n
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