Accra, July 13, GNA - The Executive Board of the World Bank on Tuesday ratified Ghana's Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Completion Point status at its meeting held Tuesday in Washington DC, USA.

This was a follow-up to a similar approval by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday, July 9.

A statement issued in Accra and signed by Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said the Board also approved the Poverty Reduction Strategy Credit of 125 million dollars. The amount comprised of a loan of 85 million dollars and a non-repayable grant of 40 million dollars.

The statement said, based on the approval of Ghana's Completion Point by the Bretton Woods Institutions, the Government would be in France next week for the final negotiations with the Paris Club on the cancellation of debt owed to the Paris Club Creditors.
Addressing a Press Conference last Friday on the IMF approval, Mr Osafo-Maafo said Ghana attained the completion point status in a record time of two and a-half years.
On March 9, 2001, Ghana took the decision to go HIPC and in February 2002, reached the Decision Point of the HIPC programme.