China Eximbank suspends debt service payments under government concessional loan for 60MW Upper Trishuli 3A Hydroelectric Power Plant Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#53716 and #95769)

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting that took place on April 15, 2020 and on November 13, 2020, the Chinese Government agreed to work with other G20 members to implement the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). Then, in 2021, China Eximbank and the Government of Nepal signed a debt suspension agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement, the lender agreed to suspend principal and interest payments due in 2021 under multiple loan agreements.

The total estimated suspension amount was $2,154,700 ($1,551,700 in principal suspension and $603,000 in interest suspension).

China Eximbank agreed to suspend principal and interest payments worth RMB 1,650,085.37 under a loan agreement for the Acquisition of 1 MA60 and 3 Y12E Aircrafts Project (captured via Record ID#34441) and suspend principal and interest payments worth RMB 4,731,871.36 under a loan agreement for the the 60MW Upper Trishuli 3A Hydroelectric Power Plant Construction Project (captured via Record ID#53716).

However, at the time that the parties signed the debt suspension agreement, they both acknowledged that the total suspension amount would ultimately be determined at the end of the suspension period (since loan disbursements could be made during the suspension period and the lender agreed to suspend the payment of interest accrued on any disbursements during the suspension period).

The lender and borrower agreed that the suspension of debt service would be undertaken on a net present value (NPV)-neutral basis.

Therefore, the borrower agreed to pay interest accrued on the amount outstanding under the total suspension amount (‘Suspension Interest’) by paying the Suspension Interest on the amount outstanding under each loan agreement’s suspension amount at the same rate of interest set forth in the original loan agreement.

Under the terms of each debt suspension agreement, the lender and the borrower also agreed that ‘[t]he suspension interest on the amount outstanding under the Suspension Amount concerning each Loan Agreement shall be calculated on the basis of the actual number of days elapsed and a year of 360 days, from and including the Repayment Date/Repayment Date of Principal and Interest falling within the Suspension Period to the date of payment in full of the corresponding Suspension Amount, and shall be paid in arrears on each Interest Payment Date under the corresponding Loan Agreement.’ The borrower also agreed that (1) ‘it shall continue to perform all its obligations […] under the Loan Agreements as supplemented and amended by [the debt suspension agreement]’; (2) ‘it shall use the created fiscal space to increase social, health, or economic spending in response to the COVID-19 crisis […]’ and ‘work closely with the International Financial Institutions who are expected to put in place a monitoring system’; (3) ‘it shall disclose to the Lender all Public Sector Financial Commitments (as defined in the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM2014)), respecting commercially sensitive information’; and (4) ‘it shall contract no new non-concessional debt during the Suspension Period, other than agreements under the DSSI’.

In Fiscal Year 2023, the Government Nepal made a principal payment worth RMB 1,168,574.32 and an interest payment of RMB 98,529.48 under the new China Eximbank loan instrument (for the 2021 debt suspension amount under the loan agreement for the 60MW Upper Trishuli 3A Hydroelectric Power Plant Construction Project).

The principal amount outstanding under the new China Eximbank loan instrument was RMB 4,737,871.36 at the end of Fiscal Year 2022 and RMB 3,569,297.04 at the end of Fiscal Year 2023.

In Fiscal Year 2023, the Government Nepal made a principal payment worth RMB 330,017.80 and an interest payment of RMB 23,850.60 under the new China Eximbank loan instrument (for the 2021 debt suspension amount under the loan agreement for the Acquisition of 1 MA60 and 3 Y12E Aircrafts Project).

The principal amount outstanding under the new China Eximbank loan instrument was RMB 1,650,085.37 at the end of Fiscal Year 2022 and RMB 1,320,068.29 at the end of Fiscal Year 2023.