Business News of Wednesday, 10 January 2024

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

We are 'optimistic' Ghana will clinch deal with bilateral creditors – IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund has expressed confidence that Ghana and its official bilateral creditors will reach an agreement on the terms of a debt swap, a Reuters report has said.

The agreement is crucial towards paving the way for Ghana to secure the second tranche disbursement of the IMF bailout package consisting of $600 million.

IMF Resident Representative for Ghana, Leandro Medina said discussions between Ghanaian authorities and the Official Creditor Committee, co-chaired by China and France, are showing "promising progress".

"We are optimistic that an agreement will be reached soon, allowing to swiftly present the first ECF (Extended Credit Facility) programme review to our Executive Board," Medina is said to have told Reuters via email.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta on Tuesday January 9 disclosed that Ghana was expecting to receive the term sheet for a restructuring of about $5.4 billion of bilateral debts.

“We are receiving the draft term sheet today [January 9, 2024], so I think we are about done. We will look into the details, but then it’s good enough for the IMF to continue with their work, so we’re in good shape,” Ofori-Atta told Bloomberg.

The term sheet will be sufficient for the IMF Executive Board to approve Ghana’s bailout request of $600 million under the $3 billion Extended Credit Facility for a period of three years.

Meanwhile, the IMF Executive Board is expected to meet swiftly, as soon as there is an OCC agreement in place.

MA/NOQ

Watch a recap of business stories below:



Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.

Click here to follow the GhanaWeb Business WhatsApp channel