The Ministry of Finance has said that government has reached an agreement with its Official Creditors under the G20 Common Framework, on a comprehensive Debt Treatment Beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative.
The Ministry said, this followed the successful completion of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) in 2023.
A press release dated January 12, said this development constitutes a significant positive step towards restoring Ghana’s long-term debt sustainability.
It said, “The Government of Ghana commends the support and cooperation of its Official Creditors in reaching this agreement, which demonstrates a mutual commitment to restoring debt sustainability in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme targets. The Government is confident that this debt treatment, which entails significant flow relief during the programme period, will allow for the allocation of additional financial resources towards critical public investments, particularly in healthcare, education, and infrastructure development.”
The Ministry further noted that, “The terms of the agreed debt treatment are expected to be formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding between Ghana and Official Creditors, which will then be implemented through bilateral agreements with each member of the Official Creditor Committee. The Government of Ghana looks forward to further engaging with the Official Creditors to ensure prompt implementation of the agreed terms.”
The Ministry of Finance stressed that, “Ghana has indeed turned the comer, as evidenced by the: Decline in inflation to 23.2% in December 2023 from 54.2% in December 2022; Relative strong performance of the Ghana cedi which reported a marginal depreciation of 7.2% between February and December 2023, compared to 28.4% during the some period in 2022; Overall real GDP growth of 2.8% for the first three quarters of 2023, higher than the 2023 initial GOP growth target of 1.5%.”
