The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) says that about K1.27 trillion owed under facilities with Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and Egypt-based Afreximbank stood in arrears at the end of 2025 as negotiations to restructure the debt continue, years after the talks were initiated.
In its report and accounts for the period ending December 31 2025, the RBM data show that K652.1 billion relating to a $307 million (about K537 billion) revolving TDB facility was in arrears while K616.564 billion under an African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) note facility was overdue, bringing the two balances to K1.27 trillion.
The TDB facility, according to the central bank, supports fuel imports through National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma), structured commodity imports, export financing and a Malawi Government tranche, with interest rates ranging from three to 13 percent.
Reads the report in part: “As at 31 December 2025, the revolving loan facility was in arrears and negotiations for debt restructuring with TDB are ongoing.”
The RBM said facility incurred K59.2 billion in interest and other charges during the year, although K73.5 billion was repaid while the agreement provides for an additional two percent interest charge on overdue amounts.
On the Afreximbank facility, RBM said that K616.5 billion was in arrears at year-end, adding that “negotiations for debt restructuring with the Afreximbank are at an advanced stage”.
The overdue Afreximbank balances attract an average penalty charge of two percent, adding to the financial pressure from the outstanding obligations.
As part of efforts to qualify for the four-year $175 million (about K306 billion) Extended Credit Facility, which automatically terminated on May 15 last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had set addressing unsustainable public debt as one of the prerequisites for its support.
In an interview on Tuesday, Scotland-based Malawian economist Velli Nyirongo said that without a comprehensive and credible restructuring deal that includes these banks, Malawi will find it difficult to restore debt sustainability, regain access to new funding, or stabilise the economy.
“The country’s external debt service obligations far exceed its capacity to pay, particularly after years of economic shocks, declining donor support and persistent current account deficits,” he said.
Mzuzu University economics lecturer Christopher Mbukwa said on Tuesday that debt restructuring can help to lower interest costs and release resources for essential services.
In August last year, RBM said that it had negotiated better debt restructuring terms with Afreximbank and TDB following Malawi’s fall-out with the IMF in May 2025 as a result of the termination of its three-year Extended Credit Credit with Malawi.
But in June 2025, Afreximbank denied that it was not engaged in debt restructuring negotiations related to any of its member countries, including Malawi as doing so would be inconsistent with the bank’s establishment treaty.
RBM director of capital markets and microfinance supervision Mark Lungu told delegates to the RBM Monetary Policy Committee Technical Meeting in Blantyre last year that the terms brought on board by IMF included restructuring the debt with the regional creditors to 30 years, with 17 years of moratorium and repayment of 13 years.
He said that in the new deal, RBM had negotiated that some of the loans be repaid in local currency while the others in dollars as these regional creditors have business interests in Malawi and that payment has started.
But United Kingdom-based global affairs think- tank ODI Global noted that Malawi, alongside Zambia and Ghana were finding it difficult to finalise debt restructuring negotiations with Afreximbank and TDB as they maintained that their loans should be excluded from restructuring, just like those from the World Bank and African Development Bank.
Public debt had reached K23.9 trillion, equivalent to 90.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by December 2025, while debt interest payments are projected at K2.793 trillion, about 25 percent of total government expenditure in the 2026/27 Budget.
On the other hand, government plans to finance a K2.852 trillion budget deficit, representing 6.8 percent of GDP, through additional domestic and external borrowing, a move that risks worsening pressure on public finances.
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation Joseph Mwanamvekha said in the K11 trillion 2026/27 National Budget that Malawi’s path towards managing public debt is constrained by the current stock levels.
He, however said the fiscal plan estimates were formulated on the basis that debt restructuring will create fiscal space.
Malawi’s public debt was recorded at K22.4 trillion as of September 2025, which is about 90 percent of the country’s GDP.
