Johannesburg/Maputo — A state-run company in Mozambique skipped $134m in payments on a government-guaranteed loan, the third time this year that the country has failed to meet its obligations, as a stand-off with creditors blocks debt restructuring talks. Mozambique Asset Management (MAM), one of three state-owned companies that took out undisclosed loans worth about $2bn, failed to make the payment due on May 23, Rogerio Nkomo — a spokesman for the finance ministry — said by phone. The $535m loan to MAM was arranged by Russia’s VTB Capital and Palomar Capital Advisors, according to the ministry. Lazard is leading the negotiations with MAM’s creditors. "Interest on arrears which accrues to successive defaults are subject to the same negotiations," Nkomo said on Friday. The government had hoped to complete a restructuring of its commercial foreign debt by January, but a group of investors holding its 2023 eurobond, which went into default at the start of the year, has refused to star...
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