Ethiopia will return to holders of its $ 1-billion Eurobond for further negotiations after its official creditors said a proposed debt restructuring deal struck in early January did not meet comparability requirements.

“The OCC (official creditor committee), through its co-chairs, has informed Ethiopia of its assessment that the (draft restructuring deal) … does not fully meet the requirements of the Comparability of Treatment principle,” the finance ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page on Friday.

Comparability of Treatment is a tenet of the G20’s Common Framework that requires commercial creditors to be treated similarly to official counterparts.

The ministry said Ethiopia would resume discussions with its ad hoc bondholder committee, which represents U.S. and European investors who hold more than 45 per cent of the 2024 Eurobond, to try to find a solution.

“While Ethiopia regrets the need to reopen discussions, it remains fully committed to working constructively and in good faith with the members of the (bondholder) committee and its official creditors,” it said.

The Paris Club of Official Lenders and the Bondholder Committee were not immediately available for comment.

Ethiopia defaulted on the Eurobond in late 2023 and opted to rework its debt under the G20’s Common Framework initiative.

The debt restructuring agreement announced on January 2 would have given bondholders a 15 per cent principal writedown through an exchange for a new $850 million note maturing in mid-2029.

(Reuters/NAN)