
Chad’s President Deby sacks finance minister and his deputy
Chad’s President Idriss Deby has sacked Finance Minister Christian Georges Diguimbaye, a government decree dated Nov. 21 showed.
The decree which gave no reason for the sackings also dismissed Diguimabye’s deputy, Banata Tchalet Sow, Reuters news agency reports.
According to the decree, Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul, the minister-secretary general of the government in charge of institutional reform, will serve as interim finance minister.
Diguimbaye and Sow’s dismissal came amid a standoff with Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore over more than $1 billion the West African country owes it in oil-backed loans.
Chad is under pressure to restructure its debt to Glencore for a second time after the International Monetary Fund said this year that its external commercial debt was unsustainable.
Chad pumps about 130,000 barrels per day of oil but ranks 186th out of 188 countries on the U.N. Human Development Index.