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Paris Club gives green light for $3 billion IMF programme – Finance Minister

The Paris Club yes­terday agreed to es­tablish the Official Creditor Commit­tee (OCC) under the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments, to seek financing assurances from bilateral creditors.

“The Paris Club has today established the OCC, co-chaired by China and France with the granting of Financing Assurances, Ghana is now ready to go to the IMF Board,” Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced on his Twitter Page yesterday.

He thanked all the country’s bi­lateral partners for helping “Ghana reach this significant milestone.”

A joint statement issued yester­day, said “the creditor committee examined the macroeconomic and financial situation of Ghana, includ­ing its long-term debt sustainability, and its formal request for a debt treatment under the “Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI” endorsed under the Saudi G20 Presidency in November 2020, which was also endorsed by the Paris Club,” the statement said.

It said the creditor committee supported Ghana’s envisaged IMF upper credit tranche (UCT) pro­gramme and its swift adoption by the IMF Executive Board to address Ghana’s urgent financing needs.

The statement said the creditor committee encouraged Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to maximise their support for Gha­na to meet its long-term financial needs.

“Consistent with their nation­al laws and internal procedures, creditor committee members are committed to negotiate with the Republic of Ghana terms of a restructuring of their claims to be finalised in a Memorandum of Un­derstanding (MoU), in accordance with the “Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI,” the statement said.

It said the creditor commit­tee urged private creditors and other official bilateral creditors to commit without delay to negotiate with Ghana such debt treatments that are crucial to ensure the full effectiveness of the debt treatment for Ghana under the Common Framework.

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms Kristalina Georgie­va, in a statement yesterday in reaction to the statement from the OCC posted on the IMF website, said “I welcome the statement from the Official Creditor Commit­tee for Ghana on the importance of an IMF-supported economic program, together with its commit­ment to negotiate debt restructur­ing terms accordingly.”

She said “this statement provides the necessary financing assurances for the IMF Executive Board to consider the proposed Fund-sup­ported programme and unlock much needed financing from Ghana’s development partners. I also strongly endorse the call by the Official Creditor Committee for private creditors and other official bilateral creditors to commit to comparable debt treatments.”

“The Creditor Committee’s action recognises the Ghanaian au­thorities’ strong reform programme, which aims to restore macroeco­nomic stability and debt sustainabili­ty while laying the foundation for an inclusive recovery,” Ms Georgieva stated.

Ghana signed on for IMF pro­gramme in the middle of last year for balance of payment support to restore macroeconomic stability.

Ghana reached a staff-level agree­ment with the IMF on December 12, 2022 to enable the country seek the approval of the IMF Board for the programme.

The IMF Board consideration of Ghana’s programme request has been pending because the country has not received financing assur­ances from Ghana’s official bilateral creditors.

BY KINGSLEY ASARE

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