Online Reporter
Tapiwanashe Mangwiro
Senior Business Reporter
Zimbabwe’s treasury has moved to ease fiscal pressure from its significant domestic debt maturities after agreeing with creditors to stretch the repayment of legacy debt Treasury Bills, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has confirmed.
The move directly addresses a sizeable maturity profile of United States dollar-denominated domestic securities, which stand at about US$4,37 billion for the period 2025 and 2043. Of particular concern were maturities falling in the period 2026 and 2034, which exceeded US$400 million per year, largely reflecting legacy instruments issued to cover blocked funds and past Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe liabilities.
Responding to a question on the status of negotiations with holders of these legacy Treasury Bills, Minister Ncube said the Government had concluded talks that allow payments to be redistributed over a longer horizon, easing near term fiscal strain.
“We have negotiated successfully with the creditors so that we can stretch these payments out and lower the fiscal pressures on the Government,” said Minister Ncube.
“This allows us to focus on development programmes, because paying off debt is not development. Debt restructuring is a normal process in fiscal management.”
The Treasury has since confirmed that it is rolling over maturities for blocked funds and other legacy debts falling due between 2025 and 2030. The restructuring is designed to smooth repayment schedules, reduce rollover risk and prevent debt service from crowding out critical expenditure on infrastructure, health, education and social services.
The debt strategy comes against the backdrop of steady progress in servicing current domestic obligations.
The latest Treasury data shows that between January and September 2025, the Government settled domestic debt amounting to ZiG11,2 billion. Of this total, ZiG9,1 billion was paid towards maturing Treasury Bills and bonds, while ZiG2,1 billion went to interest payments.
A further ZiG4,8 billion was expected to be paid before the end of the year, underscoring authorities’ determination to remain current on obligations linked to active budget financing.
Debt service payments were deliberately spread across the year, with ZiG5,36 billion paid in the first quarter, ZiG1,63 billion in the second and ZiG4,05 billion in the third, reflecting a cash flow smoothing approach.
Peter Tanyanyiwa