The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is hopeful that an agreement on the restructuring of Ghana's foreign debt will be reached shortly with the country's creditors, notably the Paris Club.
This will open the door for the Fund's Board to approve a Ghana plan with a target completion date of May 2023. The nation will be able to get a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) thanks to the decision, which will improve its balance of payments.
Julie Kozack, the IMF's director of communications, said in response to a question at a press conference that "financing assurances from official bi-lateral creditors are necessary for presenting the program to the Executive Board."
"We are optimistic that these funding assurances can be given very soon since we have seen great movement towards creditors delivering on them.
The IMF and Ghana agreed to a staff-level agreement on December 12, 2022, for a $3 billion ECF program that would last for three years.
A domestic debt exchange program that involved important participants, including the Ghana Bankers Association, the Ghana Insurers Association, and the Chamber of Corporate Trustees, was previously successfully completed by the nation.
The IMF financing scheme is a component of a larger initiative to assist poor nations as they recover from the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic. It is evidence of the vital assistance that international bodies provide for nations in trying times and the requirement for international collaboration to address economic and social problems.
Given the involvement of several players in the process, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) issued a warning in its 2023 Country Report on Ghana that the International Monetary Fund board approval for Ghana will be postponed due to protracted external debt-restructuring discussions.
The UK-based company predicted that around 2023–2024, Ghana would be able to reach restructuring agreements on its public external debt that would include both government and private creditors.
This will incorporate a mix of write-offs, maturity extensions, and interest rate decreases.
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