Economy

Ofori-Atta expected in China tomorrow for crucial debt restructuring negotiations

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Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has left Accra for China to have negotiations on debt restructuring with officials of that country. 

Sources say the Minister left over the weekend via Addis Ababa where he is attending the UNECA High-Level Ministers meeting on Global Financial Architecture.

After that meeting, Mr Ofori-Atta is expected to head to China, possibly on March 22, 2023.

The Minister who is leading the government delegation is expected to continue bilateral talks with China as well as seek financial assurances for Ghana’s programme with the International Monetary Fund. 

The trip was postponed to the end of March because it coincided with the National People’s Congress of China meeting in early March 2023. 

The Minister of Finance has already held meetings with officials of Exim Bank China in Ghana, all in the line of re-profiling the country’s debt to China.

Ghana is hoping to restructure $5. 7 billion of its external debt, with China holding a third of it amounting to $1.7 billion.

The structure of Ghana’s external debt shows that the country owes China about $1.7 billion; Eurobonds, $13.1 billion and Multilateral, $ 8.1 dollars. 

The rest are Paris Club countries, $1.9 billion and other creditors, $3.2 Billion.

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