Ghana Finally Fulfills Requirements To Secure Further $600 Million From IMF

• Ghana has received a draft term sheet on debt relief from creditors that is sufficient for the IMF to disburse $600 million
• The term sheet from the Paris Club Group of creditors and China, among others, comes after months of negotiations
• Ghana was trying to restructure as much as $5.4 billion of bilateral debt to qualify for more IMF support

Ghana can finally secure a further $600 million from the IMF after coming to some debt relief agreements with creditors.

The government has a term sheet from the Paris Club Group of creditors and China.

This was after months of negotiations to restructure as much as $5.4 billion of bilateral debt.

“We are reviewing the draft term sheet,” Ofori-Atta said to Bloomberg News.

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Ghana started restructuring its public debt in December 2022 to qualify for $3 billion in support from the IMF.

The country received $600 million when it agreed to the IMF programme in May 2023.

But further disbursements have been contingent on restructuring the country's debt.

The IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Ghana on the first review of Ghana's economic program under the Extended Credit Facility arrangement in October 2023.

The agreement hinged upon the government renegotiating debts.

Earlier, the government said debt restructuring talks with China were progressing well.

But it has taken almost a year for the restructuring, given that Ofori-Atta first spoke on the issue in March 2023, where he said Ghana was likely to secure external assurances from China soon.

At the time, he was optimistic about Ghana getting the loan that is expected to return confidence and fix the balance of trade imbalances.

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Struggles to meet IMF conditions

YEN.com.gh previously reported that Ghana missed the November 1, 2023, timeline set in the IMF programme to get the second tranche of the $3 billion bailout package.

Ghana had submitted proposals to commercial creditors seeking a haircut of up to 40 percent.

Bright Simons of IMANI Ghana earlier disclosed that the government struggled to convince the IMF to sign off on the $600 million.

His comments follow the response by Ernest Addison, the Bank of Ghana governor, who described MPs taking part in the OccupyBoG protests as hooligans.

Source: YEN.com.gh