Ghana is set to engage in crucial talks with its official creditors today Monday, January 8, 2024, to finalize a roadmap for restructuring approximately $5.4 billion in external debt.
The bilateral lenders, including the governments of China and France, who co-chair the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), hold around a quarter of Ghana’s $20 billion external debt earmarked for restructuring.
While the government assures that negotiations are progressing, an agreement on the cut-off date for external debt inclusion in the restructuring operation is still pending between the government and the Official Creditors Committee.
The Ministry of Finance, in October 2023, appealed to its bilateral creditors to quickly agree on the debt relief terms to help Ghana secure the second tranche of the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package.
Ghana received $600 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May 2023, the first tranche of the $3 billion bailout package.
The release of the rest of the funds is now dependent on the outcome of Ghana’s engagement with its bilateral creditors.