PARIS, June 22 Reuters Zambia has clinched a deal to restructure more than 6 billion in debts owed to other governments, a French official said on Thursday, in a longawaited breakthrough to ease pressure on the southern African country39;s strained public finances.

Zambia in 2020 became the first African country to default on its sovereign debt during the COVID19 pandemic and has struggled since in protracted negotiations to agree a deal on the 12.8 billion of external debt it was trying to restructure.

We have reached an agreement on the outline of a debt treatment, we39;ve reached the end of the negotiation, the French official, who did not wish to be identified, told journalists.

Zambia39;s public sector creditors agreed to reschedule 6.3 billion, including 1.3 billion in arrears, and private sector creditors are expected to do the same on the 6.8 billion owed to them, the official said.

We39;ve already spoken to representatives of the private sector and they know what to expect, that they will have to restructure and make a comparable effort, the official added.

The agreement calls for Zambia39;s debt to be rescheduled over more than 20 years with a threeyear grace period during which only payments on interest are due.

The restructuring agreement with official creditors paves the way for Zambia to receive another 188 million tranche of money from the International Monetary Fund, part of a 1.3 billion package approved in August 2022.

This agreement paves…