The Sudanese Minister of Finance Jibreel Ibrahim announced that the Paris club has forgiven $14.1 billion of what is owed to it by Sudan.
Khartoum: AlTaghyeer
The minister, through his Twitter account, indicated that the remainder of the Paris Club debt, which amounts to 9.5 billion dollars, will be scheduled for the completion point, with the payment of debt services put on hold during that period.
The issue of the country’s foreign debt, estimated at $60 billion, has been one of the transitional government’s main concerns since taking power in 2019.
This road to debt relief began with Sudan’s removal from the list of the US sponsors of terrorism, officially last December.
It also represented the country’s improved foreign relations with Western countries, one of the initial pathways to debt forgiveness, and for the Sudanese government to obtain their commitments.
During the former finance minister’s era, the Friends of Sudan Conference was held in the German capital, Berlin, and discussed support for the country and debt relief.
However, the most radical approach to debt relief post Sudan’s removal from the US terrorism list was the government’s adoption of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund’s policies by liberating the prices of petroleum derivatives.
Last February, the government adopted a policy unifying the Sudanese pound’s exchange rate against foreign currencies.
Later, the government completely liberalized the prices of petroleum derivatives and subjected them to the mechanism of supply and demand in accordance with international prices. It also abandoned the customs dollar.
The Paris conference to support the transition in Sudan, last May, was the culmination of progress in the government’s negotiations to forgive the country’s debts.
