Sub-Saharan Africa Compared by Economy > External debt > Terms > Average maturity on new external debt commitments > Years

DEFINITION: Maturity is the number of years to original maturity date, which is the sum of grace and repayment periods. Grace period for principal is the period from the date of signature of the loan or the issue of the financial instrument to the first repayment of principal. The repayment period is the period from the first to last repayment of principal. To obtain the average, the maturity for all public and publicly guaranteed loans have been weighted by the amounts of the loans. Public debt is an external obligation of a public debtor, including the national government, a political subdivision (or an agency of either), and autonomous public bodies. Publicly guaranteed debt is an external obligation of a private debtor that is guaranteed for repayment by a public entity.".