PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC—The Suriname government says it has signed a debt rescheduling agreement with China, and the first repayments to creditors are expected this year.
Finance and Planning Minister Stanley Raghoebarsing told the National Assembly that he had signed the debt restructuring with the People’s Republic of China. The signing comes after four years of preparation.
According to debt management office data from mid-2024, Suriname owes Chinese state-owned Exim Bank an estimated US$476 million, of which US$140 million is in arrears.
Payments to Exim will be rescheduled in two phases, while Suriname’s debt to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)will be repaid in one tranche. As of the end of June, Suriname owed ICBC $68 million.
Raghoebarsing told legislators that the rescheduling was only possible because President Chandrikapersad Chan Santokhi had not been to China earlier this year.
During the visit, Presidents Xi Jinping and Santokhi had signed the minutes on the national debt, but the settlement had yet to take place.
The authorities said that the reorganization had already been completed at a technical and political level, but the formal settlement took a long time.
and then 