Suriname signs debt rescheduling agreement with China

The government of Suriname has said that it has reached an agreement with China to reschedule its debt, with the first payments to creditors anticipated to occur this year.

The country's Minister of Finance and Planning, Stanley Raghoebarsing informed the National Assembly that he had contracted with China to restructure the debt.

Four years have been spent preparing for the signature.

According to data from the debt management office as of mid-2024, Suriname owes Chinese state-owned Exim Bank an estimated US$476 million, of which US$140 million is in arrears.

While Suriname's debt to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will be paid back in one installment, payments to Exim will be rescheduled in two stages.

Suriname owes ICBC $68 million as at the end of June.

The rescheduling would not have been feasible, Raghoebarsing informed lawmakers, had President Chandrikapersad Chan Santokhi not visited China earlier this year.

Presidents Xi Jinping and Santokhi signed the national debt minutes during the visit, but the settlement had not yet been finalised.

Technically and politically, the reorganisation was already finished, according to the authorities, but the final settlement took a long time.