The government has received a draft memorandum of understanding from the Official Bilateral Creditor Committee co-chaired by France and China, representing the final step in the country’s negotiations with its bilateral creditors to restructure $5.4 billion of its bilateral debts.
This is expected to pave the way for the release of the third tranche of $360 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the fund’s extended facility programme
with the government of Ghana.
Already, the country has received $1.2 billion from the fund.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, at a news conference in Accra yesterday.
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Dr Amin Adam said the government, with support from its financial and legal advisors, would review the MoU to finalise and sign the agreement with the creditor committee as soon as possible.
The signing of the MoU will pave the way for the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the second review of the country’s three-year programme with the fund.
The approval of the review will then unlock the third tranche of $360 million from the IMF, bringing the total disbursement under the programme to $1.56 billion.
Background
As part of the country’s programme with the IMF, the government was tasked with restructuring both its domestic and external debts.
Financing assurances were given by the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) established as part of the Common Framework.
On January 12, 2024, prior to the IMF Executive Board’s approval of the first review of the IMF-supported Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), Ghana received financing assurance upon reaching an agreement in principle with the OCC.
What is now left is for the government to formalise this agreement through an MoU, and the receipt of the MoU from the OCC represents a significant step towards this.
Source: graphic.com.gh