There’s one country in the world that is already in a debt crisis similar to the one heading our way, and that country is Lebanon.
The Lebanese government announced last week that it will not be able to repay the Eurobond of $1.2 that is due for repayment this month.
By the way, Zambia also has a $1.2 Billion and $800 Million Eurobond debt problem.
What has happened following the Lebanese Government’s failure to pay the Eurobond is ;
1: The local currency has depreciated 60% against the dollar.
2: Eurobond lenders have prepared multiple lawsuits to seize Lebanese government assets.
3: Banks have imposed capital controls, citizens are not able to withdraw money from banks or transfer it, they are restricting the amount of money each person can withdraw per month, it doesn’t matter how rich you are. Your bank balance is now just a figure on a screen or statement. You can’t access it, you can’t use it, the money is now for the government to use.
This has triggered civil unrest in the country as the economy has come to total collapse.
Institutions of government are shutting down because there’s no money in the country.
Zambia needs to learn a lesson from this.
Our first Eurobond repayment is due in 2022 -NDC