Ghana's external debt including obligations to the International Monetary Fund stood at 5,551.5 million dollars at the end of June this year. Mr. Victor Selormey, Deputy Minister of Finance, briefing Parliament on the State of the Economy, said this amount was 283.2 million dollars lower than the position as at the end of December last year.

He stated that during the first half of this year, Ghana's debt service payments through the Bank of Ghana amounted to 261.7 million dollars, adding that this was made up of 199.6 million dollars of principal and 62.1 million dollars in interest.

The Deputy Minister announced that a three-day Donor's Conference is slated for November 23 to 25 to solicit financial support from the donor community to assist the nation in its development efforts.

Ghanaians, he said, "will first demonstrate that they recognize the problems and difficulties that this nation faces, and to demonstrate their preparedness to do something about those problems.

"There is goodwill for Ghana out there because we have shown in the past the willingness to take those measures that will address, even if partially, the difficulties that we face," Mr. Selormey