President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo asked Germany on Friday to “push” China, an ad hoc Paris Club member, to assist Ghana with debt restructuring.
He stated that the Paris Club must form a creditors committee with other government creditors as soon as possible to assist Ghana in regaining economic development.
The president called when German Finance Minister Christian Lindner paid him a visit at Jubilee House in Accra.
Linden, who led a delegation from his country, met with President Obama to discuss improving relations and trade.
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President Akufo-Addo reminded the minister that his administration’s top priority was to complete discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), particularly at the board level, and reach a Bretton Woods agreement by mid-March.
“Our main concern right now is the arrangements that we are in the process of concluding with the IMF…and the specific assistance that will be useful to us and help us fast-track the process.
“Our target is that by the middle of March, we should be before the Board for the full agreement. We have already taken one important step forward in concluding a staff-level agreement with the IMF and we are now looking to go the full haul in concluding the agreement. We are hoping that it will be done by the middle of March.
“One of the steps towards that has been the domestic debt exchange program that we are on, which fortunately, we have quite a lot of difficulties, has now been virtually concluded,” he stated.
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President Akufo-Addo highlighted that other creditors needed to assist his government’s efforts to restructure both foreign and domestic loans to make the IMF agreement happen fast.
“We now have our relations with the Paris club and the common framework, and we are looking for as quickly as possible a creditor committee to be established, so we will have the body with whom we can engage in bringing those discussions as quickly as possible.
“We have good relations with China. We will like you to encourage China to participate in these programs as quickly as possible…A significant consideration for us is the financial stability fund that has been promised us as one of the key outcomes of these negotiations and definitely once again, your voice in trying to bring that into being is something that we would appreciate very much,” President Akufo-Addo told Finance Minister Lindner.
As a reminder, Ghana received a $3 billion, three-year Extended Credit Facility from the IMF in December to reduce its debt. Ghana must fully restructure its internal and foreign debts to approve the deal.
