Ghana has removed the final obstacle to accessing a $3bn extended credit facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to President Nana Akufo-Addo. Speaking after a meeting with the leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Akufo-Addo said progress had been made in securing the balance of payments support Ghana needs. He revealed that China and France had co-chaired a Paris Club meeting which had “okayed and approved” Ghana’s request for an IMF programme.
Finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta confirmed the news on Twitter, thanking bilateral partners for helping the country reach the milestone. The managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, said the statement from the Official Creditor Committee for Ghana provided the necessary financing assurances for the IMF Executive Board to consider the proposed programme and unlock much-needed financing. She welcomed the committee’s call for private creditors and other official bilateral creditors to commit to comparable debt treatments.
The IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Ghana in December 2021, and since then Ghana has undertaken a domestic debt exchange programme followed by a restructuring of its external debts with China and the Paris Club. Financing assurances from the two organisations were the only remaining hurdle to Ghana securing Board approval from the IMF. The extended credit facility is intended to restore Ghana’s creditworthiness and enable the country to return to the international capital market.
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