Zambia to finance roads project with $134mn loan from Standard Chartered

Zambia borrowed $134 million from Standard Chartered Plc. to help fund the road sector, according to a finance ministry official.

According to Bloomberg, the borrowing plan was included in the 2017 budget, Mukuli Chikuba, permanent secretary at the finance ministry, said in a text message on Tuesday.

The loan is the second that Standard Chartered has arranged for the government since a $450 million syndicated deal in the first half of 2016.

Five new loans worth $296 million were contracted in the first half of the year, according to the ministry’s mid-year economic review. The country’s external debt grew to $7.4 billion by the end of June, the report shows.

Zambia, Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, is in talks to secure a $1.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and plans to present an economic program to the lender’s board by year-end.