Ghana's finance minister said the government may sell part of its stake in gold miner Ashanti Goldfields Co Ltd (NYSE:ASL) and other listed companies to reduce the West African country's domestic debt.

Yaw Osafo-Maafo said late on Wednesday the government had proposed to international donors to sell its shares in a number of firms, including companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

Asked whether that included Ashanti, in which the government holds a 20 percent stake, Osafo-Maafo said: ``We'll look at each equity on its own merits. But we'll definitely not offload everything in Ashanti. If for nothing else, for sentimental reasons we'll keep some of the shares.''

``But right now Ashanti's share price is not very attractive,'' he told a news conference.

New York-listed Ashanti's shares were trading up $0.10 at $2.68 by 1750 GMT. On the Ghana Stock Exchange, which did not trade on Thursday, the stock closed at 18,500 cedis ($2.46) on Wednesday, matching a year low set in March.

Osafo-Maafo said the government expected to raise at least $50 million from divestitures this year.

The other listed companies in which the government has stakes are the wholly owned Ghana Commercial Bank , the Produce Buying Company -- in which it owns 51 percent -- and Standard Chartered Bank , in which the government holds a 0.13 percent stake.

One of Osafo-Maafo's aides said the government would also sell its shares in a number of non-listed companies, including Westel, Ghana Telecom and Ecobank.