Treasury restructures debt
STAFF WRITER
Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has said Treasury has reached an agreement with creditors to extend the maturities on legacy Treasury Bills (TBs), easing the pressure from upcoming repayments.
The restructuring addresses a substantial maturity profile of US dollar-denominated domestic securities, totaling approximately US$4.37 billion and spanning from 2025 to 2043.
Of particular concern was the concentration of maturities between 2026 and 2034, which exceeded US$400 million per year.
These TBs largely represent legacy instruments issued to cover blocked funds and past central bank liabilities.
“We have negotiated successfully with the creditors so that we can stretch these payments out and lower the fiscal pressures on the Government,” said Minister Ncube.
“This allows us to focus on development programmes, because paying off debt is not development. Debt restructuring is a normal process in fiscal management.”
The initiative is designed to smooth the repayment schedule, reduce rollover risk, and prevent debt servicing from crowding out critical expenditure on infrastructure, health, education, and social services.
