Oil Deals Drag South Sudan Deeper Into a Mounting Debt Crisis

Oil deals drag South Sudan deeper into a mounting debt crisis

South Sudan, once buoyed by independence and oil wealth, now faces a growing storm of unpaid debts tied to its crude exports. The country’s oil-backed debt stands at nearly $2.3bn, dwarfing its GDP and dragging its fragile economy into deeper crisis. Civil war, corruption and a failing oil pipeline have hollowed out the government’s capacity to repay creditors, many of whom now seek legal remedies. Qatar National Bank (QNB) is pursuing a $1bn ar…

Creditors circle South Sudan over oil-backed debts

When oil-rich South Sudan achieved independence in 2011, it entered the club of nations with a clean financial slate and no government debt.   But in the intervening years, many of them marred by a devastating civil war, South Sudan adopted a go-to tactic for raising revenue: promising future deliveries of crude oil in exchange for financing from commercial banks, multilateral lenders and commodity traders.  South Sudan’s outstanding oil-backed …