Sudan, a highly indebted country, would get a $1.5 billion loan from the French government to enable it to pay down its debts to the International Monetary Fund.
Sudan is emerging from decades of economic restrictions and isolation imposed by former President Omar-al-Bashir, who was deposed by the military in 2019 after a popular uprising.
Sudan could be able to re-enter the international financial system and draw investors as a result of the change. It may also pave the way for the IMF and World Bank’s Highly Indebted Poor Countries scheme to forgive a large portion of Sudan’s $50 billion foreign debt.
On Monday, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire declared that France would provide a $1.5 billion bridge loan but that IMF representatives will have to promise to fund the $1.3 billion in arrears in order for the IMF to repay the bridge loan.
During a Paris summit on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron is set to affirm the financial pledge.
On his visit to France in September 2019, Macron made a promise to Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, six months after the coup that ousted Bashir and ended his 30-year reign.
This nation, which is rich in oil and mineral resources, is engulfed in debt and experiencing 300 percent inflation. The coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted Sudan’s economy.
Economic deprivation, deep internal conflicts characterized President Omar al-Bashir’s three-decade iron-fisted reign, and biting foreign sanctions. Hamdok took office as the head of a transitional government shortly after his ouster in 2019.
Hamdok and his government have worked hard in the last two years to resurrect Sudan’s crippled economy and break the country’s isolation from the rest of the world.
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