France ready to grant up to $1.5 bln bridge loan to clear Sudan's IMF arrears

France is prepared to grant a bridge loan of up to $1.5 billion to clear Sudan's arrears to the International Monetary Fund, a French diplomat said on Wednesday.

Doing so would help Sudan clear a major hurdle to qualify for the Highly Indebted Poor Countries debt relief initiative, which it aims to do in June.

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"We are quite optimistic, France is ready to grant a bridge loan of $1.3, $1.4, $1.5 billion - whatever will be needed for the reimbursement of the IMF," Ambassador Jean-Michel Dumond, France's special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, told a virtual panel hosted by Chatham House.