President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is optimistic that Ghana will conclude talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a possible financial bailout programme.

According to President Akufo-Addo, though government's debt exchange programme was fraught with several challenges after its announcement, it has largely been accepted by the citizenry.

He made this known when the German Federal Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, paid him a visit at the Jubilee House last Friday.

“We have already taken one important step forward in concluding a staff-level agreement with the IMF.

"One of the steps was the domestic debt exchange programme which encountered a lot of difficulties, but it has now been virtually concluded...We are now looking towards going the full hog and concluding the agreement. We're hoping that will be done by the middle of March,” President Akufo-Addo said.

He also called on Germany to encourage China, an ad hoc member of the Paris Club to support Ghana’s debt restructuring efforts.

This, he said, will enable Ghana to restore economic growth.

It would be recalled that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, reached a staff-level agreement with Ghana on economic policies and reforms to be supported by a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of about US$3 billion.

According to the IMF, the authorities’ strong reform programme is aimed at restoring the macroeconomic stability of Ghana's economy.

An IMF team led by its Mission Chief for Ghana, Stéphane Roudet, said Ghanaian authorities have launched a comprehensive debt operation by way of restoring the country's public debt sustainability.

Ghana has over the past five months run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a financial bailout after the local economy took a nosedive and has been in an unsteady position since.

The local currency - Cedi - on the other hand, depreciated against major trading currencies which led to the suffering of businesses or a large extent, the collapse of some as they struggled to remain in business.

Government implemented some measures to ensure that the Cedi was strengthened to compete against major trading currencies, especially the US dollar.

ESA/FNOQ