Four-fifths of Sudan's £861m debt to UK is interest

Freedom of information data will increase calls for country to be granted debt amnesty

When Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, was in Sudan in January he offered 40m in aid to help its poorest people, who are facing unprecedented food scarcity in a debt-laden country where austerity is deepening.

Sudan, ruled by an unelected military-led transitional government after longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir was deposed in 2019, owes the UK almost 900m. But the Observer can reveal that almost 80% of that was accrued from interest, leading to calls for an unconditional debt amnesty.