Chad

The International Monetary Fund urged public and private creditors to complete a renegotiation of Chad’s loans by the end of March, a critical step to restore the sustainability of the nation’s debt, Bloomberg News reported. The move follows a series of calls by the IMF and the World Bank for private creditors, including Glencore Plc, to agree on a restructuring of Chad’s debt on the same terms as those reached with its official creditors under a Group of 20 debt-relief initiative. About a third of Chad’s public external debt is owed to Glencore and other commercial lenders.

Chad on Friday reached an agreement for a $570 million program with the International Monetary Fund under its Extended Credit Facility, Bloomberg News reported. The three-year program, seen as crucial to meet the central African nation’s financing needs, allows for an immediate disbursement of $78.28 million, the Washington-based lender said in a separate statement.

The International Monetary Fund wants Chad’s private creditors to engage in “credible” talks before approving a much-needed support program for one of the world’s poorest countries, Bloomberg News reported. Following two months of talks, China, France, India and Saudi Arabia agreed in June to restructure the credits and back an IMF loan program to shore up the central African economy under a Group of 20 debt-relief plan. But the IMF is still seeking “a strong commitment from private creditors on their willingness to negotiate” debt treatments, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund said it was resuming loan disbursements to Chad after the Central African oil producer reached an agreement in principal to restructure its more than $1 billion debt to Glencore and four banks, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Glencore and the banks lent Chad's state oil firm about $1.45 billion in 2014 to be repaid with crude oil cargoes but global oil prices crashed shortly thereafter.

Chad signed a deal with Glencore Plc to restructure more than $1 billion in debt in an agreement that will help the African nation to avoid a financial crunch, Bloomberg News reported. The review was signed on Wednesday and is a “good outcome” for Chad, Guillaume Foucault, a spokesman for the country’s national oil company, said by phone from Paris. Under the terms of the agreement, the loan’s maturity is extended to 12 years while Chad will receive a grace period of two years, said Foucault.

Chad is seeking to delay repayment of more than $1 billion of Glencore Plc-led oil-for-cash loans after crude prices plunged, the second time the African country has looked to restructure the debt in two years, according to people familiar with the matter. Glencore has approached the banks that supported the deal to start talks, while Chad has already appointed financial and legal advisers for the discussions, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is private, Bloomberg News reported.