London/Accra, Jan. 16, 2024: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board is due to meet on Friday to approve a 600-million-dollar rescue loan payout to Ghana.
Three sources told Reuters that this came after the country reached a deal to restructure 5.4 billion dollars of official creditor debt.
The board date is expected to be published in the IMF’s public calendar on Tuesday, one of the sources said. All the sources requested anonymity to speak on sensitive matters.
Ghana struck a deal with its bilateral lenders, including China and France, earlier a key step to unlocking the second tranche of IMF funding under a three billion dollar bailout.
Ghana’s finance ministry and the IMF did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva welcomed the debt deal agreement, saying it clears the path for the executive board’s first review of Ghana’s programme.
A sign-off by the board is usually seen as a formality once a date has been agreed.
The West African country defaulted on most external debt in December 2022 after servicing costs soared.
It also needs to reach a relief deal with private holders of about 13 billion dollars in international bonds.
The bonds rose almost 1 cent on the dollar on Monday, with the 2042 maturity up the most, climbing 0.82 cents to 43.09 cents, its highest level since early November.
“Recently, China encouraged all parties to overcome technical difficulties and narrow differences, and finally led all parties to reach a basic consensus on Ghana’s debt settlement plan on Jan. 8,’’ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday.
Some members of the Official Creditor Committee, which is co-chaired by China and France, are still “going through their internal procedures,” she told reporters at a regular news briefing.
Ghana is aiming to restructure 20 billion dollars of external debt, which totalled about 30 billion dollars at the end of 2022, under the Common Framework, a debt restructuring process set up by the G20 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has targeted cutting 10.5 billion dollars from payments due from 2023-2026.
The IMF second tranche payout, once signed off, should also trigger 550 million dollars in additional World Bank funding, Ghana’s finance ministry said.
