The government's statement that several categories of its external debt repayments cannot be honoured in accordance with agreed terms has prompted a response from former president John Dramani Mahama.
In a statement released on December 19 by the Ministry of Finance, the government announced that it will stop making all debt service payments for some categories of the country's external debt.
While some observers have characterised the action as Ghana effectively defaulting on its external debt, the government has defended the move as an intermediate emergency measure pending further agreement with the appropriate creditors.
The former president responded with a tweet that was sent from his official account. It read as follows and had four words: "Tragic! Ghana has declared bankruptcy."
Other information from the Finance Ministry statement:
The decision is subject to an orderly restructuring of the impacted debt obligations, according to the statement released by the Ministry and seen by GhanaWeb Business.
It stated that payments on Ghana's commercial term loans, Eurobonds, and a sizable amount of its bilateral debt will all be suspended.
The announcement clarified that payments on our international debt, any new obligations (whether multilateral or otherwise) committed after December 19, 2022, and debts associated with specific short-term trading facilities would not be affected by the suspension.
Additionally, we are assessing some specific loans connected to the projects that will have the greatest socioeconomic impact on Ghana and may need to be excluded. In the meantime, until future agreements with all pertinent creditors, this suspension is an emergency measure, it was added.
However, the Finance Ministry also stated that the government is eager to meet with its external creditors in order to carry out a transparent, equitable, and thorough debt restructuring exercise in accordance with global best practises.
Furthermore, it mentioned that the Ministry of Finance would have an investor presentation at a later time that would be announced.
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