PARIS, June 16 (Reuters) – Chad’s public creditors said in a statement on Wednesday they would move ahead with negotiations to restructure Chad’s debt and urged the country to seek the same terms from its private creditors, a call echoed by the International Monetary Fund.

The Chad creditor committee – formed by China, France, India and Saudi Arabia and co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia – said its members are committed to negotiate with the African country about the terms of a restructuring of their claims.

The public lenders said Chadian authorities are expected to seek from all private creditors and other official bilateral creditors debt treatments on terms at least as favorable as those being considered by the creditor committee.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the committee’s support for Chad’s plans provided the IMF with official financing assurances, but Chad’s private creditors also needed to agree to comparable terms “without delay.”

Such steps were needed before the IMF’s executive board could approve a new financing program for Chad, a move that in turn, would help facilitate much-needed financing from Chad’s main development partners, she said.

Georgieva said the creditor committee’s support for Chad was a milestone that would also send a positive signal to other countries requiring debt relief.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Peter Cooney)