Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam
THE Government has finalized a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with its official creditor committee (OCC) to formalise its debt restructuring to pave way for the release of additional funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed upon in January, 2024.
A statement issued and signed by the Minister of Finance, Mohammed Amin Adam on Wednesday June, 12, 2024 said the agreement would pave way for the release of the next tranche of $360 million.
The IMF Board’s approval should also trigger additional financial assistance from development partners, particularly the World Bank.
It stated that the financial terms of the agreement remain unchanged and would provide significant debt service relief during the Fund-supported programme period which will allow financial resources to be directed towards critical areas including infrastructure, education and health.
It also indicated that the agreement will also strengthen ongoing discussions with private creditors, with whom the country remains committed to finding a comparable agreement as soon as possible adding that each official creditor will now follow its internal procedures to sign the MoU.
It noted, “Ghana continues to engage in good faith with all commercial external creditors, striving to finalise restructuring agreements that respect Ghana’s need for debt relief and the comparability of treatment principle. Ghana also reiterates its firm commitment to remain in arrears with its external commercial creditors until agreements compatible with the comparability of treatment principle are reached”.
According to the Minister, once the MOU is signed, the agreed terms will be implemented through bilateral agreements with each Official Creditor Committee member.
“We call upon our official creditors to fast-track their internal processes towards the signing of the bilateral agreements,” the minister said.
The Ministry further expressed gratitude to all members of the Official Credit Committee particularly the committee’s co-chaired by China and France for their commitment and support for Ghana to solve its debt issues.
“This landmark agreement marks an extraordinary milestone in Ghana’s debt restructuring journey and will further strengthen our ambitious reform agenda with the strong support of our development partners “it added.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah