President Akufo-Addo, Ken Ofori-Atta and the German delegation led by Christian Lindner
PRESIDENT AKUFO-Addo has initiated moves to get members of the famous Paris Club to help Ghana’s Domestic Debt Restructuring programme.
He said it was critical that members of the Club swiftly established, with the participation of other official creditors, a creditors committee to support the efforts that would enable the country restore economic growth.
This was when the German Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, called on him at the Jubilee House last Friday.
Of particular interest to him was the support of China, an adhoc member of the Club. He also urged the German government to “encourage” China to support Ghana’s effort.
“We now have our relations with the Paris Club and the common framework, and we are looking for, as quickly as possible, a creditor committee to be established, so we will have the body with whom we can engage to bring those discussions as quickly as possible.
“We have good relations with China. We will like you to encourage China to participate in these programmes as quickly as possible … A very important consideration for us is the financial stability fund that has been promised us as one of the key outcomes of these negotiations and definitely once again, your voice in trying to bring that into being is something that we would appreciate very much,” President Akufo-Addo told Finance Minister Lindner.
Linden, who led a delegation from his country to Ghana, held bilateral talks with the President aimed at boosting relations and economic ties between the two countries.
President Akufo-Addo told the minister that the main concern for his administration was to conclude negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), particularly at the Board Level and seal a deal with the Bretton Woods institution by mid-March this year.
“Our main concern right now is the arrangements that we are in the process of concluding with the IMF… and the specific assistance that will be useful to us and help us fast-track the process.
“Our target is that by the middle of March, we should be before the Board for the full agreement. We have already taken one important step forward in concluding a staff-level agreement with the IMF, and we are now looking to go the full haul in concluding the agreement. We are hoping that it will be done by the middle of March.
“One of the steps towards that has been the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme that we are on, which fortunately, we have quite a lot of difficulties, has now been virtually concluded,” he stated.
President Akufo-Addo further stressed the need for other creditors to support the efforts that his administration was undertaking to restructure both the external and domestic debts of the country, and enable the IMF deal to fall through quickly.
The President commended the German government for extending support to Ghana to enable her overcome the current economic difficulties.
He said the German government had proven to be a reliable ally, and Ghana would continue to count on the European nation as “a privileged partner” as the country seeks a bailout from the IMF.
The President, in further discussions with the German delegation, praised the German government for supporting peace efforts in the West African region.
He was particularly distressed about the spillover of terrorism from the Sahel region and the instability posed by cross-border terrorism in West Africa.
Currently, there are some 4,000 Burkinabe citizens seeking refuge in Ghana following attacks by suspected terrorists and militants in Burkina Faso.
“We are directly in the line of fire. Burkina Faso is our northern neighbour and to have the jihadist menace there, which is very real, I think in the last six weeks some 4,000 young people from Burkina Faso have come to take refuge here in Ghana, and those are the ones that the Refugee Board can officially count.
“So we have a direct important strategic interest in doing whatever we can to bring this insurgency to an end and help in stabilising the government in Burkina Faso and in that exercise you have been very useful and helpful to us,” he said.
On his part, the German Minister of Finance said the German government would do whatever it can to support West Africa deal with its issues.
“We know that the stability and security in this region of Africa are essential for our security in Europe and we see economic challenges in Ghana but opportunities for bilateral trade and this is why we are here,” he said.
Meeting With Ofori-Atta
The German Finance Minister, in a meeting with Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, said the development and prosperity of Ghana’s economy were matters that interested Germany, intimating that Ghana offered a lot of opportunities.
Mr. Lindner indicated that the success of Ghanaian politics was crucial to the German government, which wanted to see the whole West Africa stable.
“We have a vital interest in the success of Ghanaian politics. We want to see West Africa as a whole stay stable. We are interested in the economic well-being and progress of Ghana. We know that there are opportunities in this country,” the German Finance Minister stressed.
The two finance ministers met to discuss bilateral relations between Ghana and Germany.
Present at the meeting was Daniel Krull, the German Ambassador to Ghana, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the German Embassy.
BY Charles Takyi-Boadu & Ernest Kofi Adu