China and India have extended the grace periods granted to Mozambique to pay bilateral debt exceeding US$2.2 billion, said the deputy director of the Institutional and Image Coordination Directorate of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in statements to financial news agency Bloomberg.

Stélia Neta said the two countries agreed on extending the grace periods and recalled China had pardoned US$34 million of the total debt, which at the end of 2017 stood at US$2.02 billion.

“The repayment periods were maintained, as well as interest rates of 1.75% in the case of China and 2.0% in the case of India,” Neta wrote, adding that the maturities of the loans granted by the two countries range from 2028 to 2033.

Restructuring agreements with China and India were announced by Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário last March, along with the announcement of plans to restructure US$2.0 billion in debt contracted by Mozambican state-owned companies. Ematum, ProIndicus and Mozambique Asset Management.

Mozambique’s debt to India amounted to US$177.3 million at the end of 2017. (macauhub)