Talks on Zambia's debt have been "quite encouraging" - Yellen

She said China played a key role in the negotiations as it was Zambia's biggest creditor. Zambia's hopes of restructuring about $12.8 billion of external debt have been hampered by the concerns of its main creditors about the required scale of relief. "Delaying debt treatment hurts both creditors and debtors.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday talks between Zambia and its official creditors were progressing and could soon produce a debt restructuring agreement.

"I'm encouraged by progress on Zambia and I think debt treatment can move forward soon," Yellen said ahead of a summit in Paris aimed at boosting crisis financing for poorer nations. She said China played a key role in the negotiations as it was Zambia's biggest creditor.

Zambia's hopes of restructuring about $12.8 billion of external debt have been hampered by the concerns of its main creditors about the required scale of relief. "Delaying debt treatment hurts both creditors and debtors. It simply worsens the economic fundamentals and increases the amount of debt relief borrowers will eventually need," Yellen said.