The co-chairs of Ethiopia’s official creditors committee (OCC) report the country has yet to ink restructuring agreements with bondholders and commercial creditors that comply with its comparability of treatment (CoT) requirements.
The committee, chaired by China and France, rejected an agreement in principle reached between the Ethiopian government and holders of its one billion dollar Eurobond obligation in January this year, arguing the terms were not fair to other creditors with whom Ethiopia is also pursuing debt treatment.
The agreement rejected in January included terms for a 15 percent haircut, a new USD 850 million bond maturing in 2029, and a USD 350 million principal repayment due in July 2026.
The report presented at the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, this week notes that negotiations with bondholders are pending. It also reveals that an agreement in principle has been reached with “one large commercial creditor on terms assessed as meeting CoT [comparability of treatment].”
From The Reporter Magazine
Other countries pursuing debt treatment under the G-20 Common Framework include Ghana, Zambia, and Sri Lanka.
“Most of the debt restructuring cases that started in 2021-22 are now largely completed, both under the Common Framework, with the cases of Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia, and outside, with the cases of Sri Lanka and Suriname. These cases now involve only residual commercial creditors, with the exception of Ethiopia where an agreement with bondholders and some other commercial creditors is yet to be reached. Full implementation of the memoranda of understanding reached with official bilateral creditors, through finalization and signature of bilateral agreements, is also not yet completed in most cases,” reads the report.
Earlier this month, the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance said it had reached a debt treatment agreement with China, Ethiopia’s largest bilateral creditor.
From The Reporter Magazine
However, similar deals with other creditors and bondholders remain elusive.
The report from the co-chairs also reaffirmed the default status of Ethiopia’s credit rating, which tanked when the government failed to service the first USD 33 million coupon in December 2023.
The Spring Meetings also saw the attendance of Finance Minister Ahmed Shide, who also took part in the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable convened on the sidelines of the 2026 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
He provided updates on Ethiopia’s debt restructuring efforts and called for continued constructive engagement from both official and private creditors, alongside sustained support from international financial institutions to maintain reform momentum and support economic recovery.
The roundtable, which includes representatives of bilateral and private creditors as well as international financial institutions debtor countries, was established in early 2023 and is co-chaired by the IMF, World Bank, and the G-20 presidency, which is currently the US.
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