Zambia Regulatory Assessment.

Two key features of the IMF deal will have the result – intended or not – of shifting Zambian spending away from Chinese projects.

Zambia will not be paying its $750 million euro bond due in September until new terms of payment are agreed between the government and bondholders, its Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said on Sunday. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday approved a $1.3 billion, 38-month loan programme, a step taken after its main creditors China and France agreed in July to negotiate to restructure the southern African country's debt.

Subscribers may share up to 10 Zambia has secured a $1.3bn IMF bailout package, enabling the African nation to advance talks with creditors on exiting a default that will test how Beijing handles the souring of its loans to developing nations.

Zambia's Eurobond holders have registered their "displeasure" at not being included in official sector debt restructuring discussions, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday, adding that they "feel like they are left behind".

Annual inflation peaked at 24.6% in the middle of last year.

A statement released by Zambia’s Paris Club bilateral creditor committee on 30 July should be sufficient to unlock a first tranche of IMF funding in the coming months, substantially improving the country’s near-term external liquidity.

Zambia’s move to cancel $1.6 billion in yet-to-be disbursed Chinese loans signalled Beijing’s willingness to compromise in negotiations to resolve the southern African country’s debt crisis, analysts have said.