the international monetary fund on thursday urged the timely implementation of zambias landmark debt deal as it released 189 million part of a 13 billion threeyear aid plan to the copperrich nation zambia whose total debt amounts to 328 billion defaulted on its 186billion foreign debt in 2020 at the height of the covid pandemic its foreign lenders agreed to restructure around a third of the countrys debt last month following two years of tough negotiations kristalina georgieva the funds managing director urged timely implementation of this agreement the deal should restore zambias debt sustainability over the medium term she said in a statement the imf hailed zambias reform efforts under president hakainde hichilema who was elected on a promise to strengthen the buckling economy and reverse past economic mismanagement zambian authorities have made commendable efforts over the past two years to stabilize the economy despite the continuation of significant external shocks said georgieva the funds executive board on thursday approved the immediate disbursement of 189 million after its first review of the 13 billion loan approved last year to help restore fiscal stability it takes the total released under the arrangement to about us374 million said the fund the imf praised decisive steps that have been taken by lusaka to slash inefficient public spending and boost social spending zambias economy was starting to strengthen with growth forecast to accelerate in 2024 and settle at around 5 percent over the medium term it said