The government has successfully reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its Official Creditor Committee (OCC) concerning the debt treatment agreed upon in January 2024.
This achievement was significantly facilitated by the co-chairs of Ghana’s OCC, China, and France.
The MoU formalizes the preliminary agreement with Official Creditors made in January, marking a crucial step towards restoring Ghana’s long-term debt sustainability.
The financial terms of the agreement remain unchanged, providing substantial debt service relief during the period of the Fund-supported program.
This relief will enable Ghana to redirect financial resources towards critical areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, and education.
The formalization of the OCC agreement is anticipated to pave the way for the IMF Executive Board’s approval of the second review of the Fund-supported Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), which will facilitate the disbursement of the next tranche of IMF financing, amounting to US$360 million.
This approval is also expected to trigger additional financial assistance from development partners, particularly the World Bank.
Moreover, the agreement will bolster ongoing discussions with private creditors, with whom Ghana is committed to finding a comparable agreement as soon as possible. Each official creditor will now follow its internal procedures to sign the MoU, after which the agreed terms will be implemented through bilateral agreements with each OCC member.
“We call upon our official creditors to fast-track their internal processes towards the signing of the bilateral agreements. Ghana continues to engage in good faith with all commercial external creditors, striving to finalize restructuring agreements that respect Ghana’s need for debt relief and the principle of comparability of treatment,” stated Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Minister for Finance.
He further emphasized Ghana’s commitment to remaining in arrears with its external commercial creditors until agreements compatible with the comparability of treatment principle are reached.
“The Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Republic of Ghana, extends our gratitude to all members of the OCC, particularly the committee’s co-chairs, China and France, for their unwavering commitment to assisting our country in resolving its debt issues. This landmark agreement marks an extraordinary milestone in Ghana’s debt restructuring journey and will further strengthen our ambitious reform agenda with the strong support of our development partners,” the statement concluded.
