Zazeannah Walker 
CMC – Suriname has expressed its appreciation to India after the Asian country rescheduled the US$39 million owed to it by the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country, the Suriname Communication Service (SCS) has reported.
It said that as a result of the Indian initiative, means that Suriname now only has to come to a debt restructuring plan with the People’s Republic of China, as one of its major foreign bilateral creditors.
The SCS said that agreement to reschedule the Indian loan was finalised during this week’s official visit to Paramaribo by President Droupadi Murmu and follows talks President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi discussions he had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Murmu in New Delhi in January.
The SCS said that the rescheduling is being carried out under several conditions including bilateral loans must be repaid in 20.5 years, including an 8.5-year grace period, and debts with a state guarantee being repaid in 15.5 years including a 9.5-year grace period.
India has assigned a maximum annual fixed interest rate of 1.20 per cent to the debts, which had a variable interest rate plus a margin of 0.5% to two per cent based on the current loans.
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