Ethiopia’s bondholders disappointed by bond cut proposal Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A group of foreign holders of Ethiopia’s international bonds said on Wednesday they were disappointed by the government’s recent comments about a possible 20 percent write-down of its $1 billion bond.

“The committee does not believe such a haircut is consistent with its assessment of Ethiopia’s economic fundamentals,” the group said by email, calling the government’s recent public statements “inconsistent with a good faith approach to debt restructuring “.

Ethiopia defaulted on its only $1 billion international bond in December, but has since made little progress in restructuring it.

The government surprised bondholders when it announced earlier this month that it proposed to reduce the principal of the bond to $800 million, which would indicate a 20% reduction, citing the need to match the debt relief offered by official creditors .