Reacting for the first time to last October’s military coup, the Paris Club of major official creditor countries announced June 14 the suspension of the bilateral agreements signed a year earlier with the now-deposed transitional government of Sudan to initiate an ambitious process of restructuring the country’s large external public debt.

The group of rich countries stated in its annual report for 2021 that, in light of the recent events in Sudan and the removal of the transitional government by the military forces, its members assessed that agreements to implement the debt restructuring program cannot be signed until the situation improves and the country resumes its program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The stock of debt owed by Sudan to the Paris Club creditors, an informal group whose declared objective is to find solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations, amounted to some $23.5 billion at the end of 2020.

The decision by the Paris Club represents an expected but severe blow to the coup leaders and comes on top of the billions of dollars in investment and aid that Western countries suspended following the military takeover. It also comes at a time when the country is going through an alarming economic crisis aggravated by the repercussions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And it pushes the generals, who have so far been unable to cement their authority due to widespread and sustained social opposition, further to their patrons in the Gulf in an attempt to fill the financial gap left by Western creditors and donors.

“The Paris Club’s decision to suspend debt relief comes at a time when Western donors, including the World Bank and the United States, have already cut financial assistance to Sudan, so it essentially adds to the pressure that fiscal finances are under,” Zaynab Mohamed, political analyst at Oxford Economics Africa, told Al-Monitor. “A lack of access to funds has left the government unable to stimulate economic activity through public spending or fulfill its promises to offer citizens some relief.”