Nicaragua Gets New Terms on Its Mexico Debt
Nicaragua has renegotiated its $1.02-billion debt with Mexico, including a virtual writeoff of $450 million, Presidency Minister Antonio Lacayo said Friday.
Lacayo said Mexican Finance Minister Pedro Aspe would sign the debt agreement in Managua today.
The accord will allow Nicaragua once again to receive crude oil shipments from Mexico under the favorable terms that are granted to Central American and Caribbean countries by Mexico and Venezuela. Mexico had cut off shipments to Nicaragua in 1985 because of the rising debt.
Under the accord, Nicaragua will have 40 years to pay back $520 million of the debt, with a six-year grace period on interest payments, Lacayo said.
The grace period will be extended if Nicaragua’s exports, now at about $200 million a year, do not rise above $1.4 billion.
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