President Akufo-Addo has appealed to Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida to help Ghana’s bid for a $3 billion bailout at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
At a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo said Japan, a member of the Paris Club, has a major role to play in Ghana securing the deal.
“Just as we managed to achieve a staff-level agreement with the Fund in record time in December last year whose terms were systematically fulfilling including the difficult but ultimately highly successful process of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, I am confident that with the cooperation we have received from the members of the Paris Club and the People’s Republic of China, which sent a delegation from China’s EXIM Bank to Accra over the weekend to meet with officials of the Ministry of Finance, we shall be able to go to the Board of the Fund to conclude finally the agreement by the end of March,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo added “this will set the stage for the strong recovery of Ghana’s economy. Needless to say, we will hope that all Ghana’s friends will weigh in with words of support at the Fund.”
Ghana has already reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF but has yet to get board approval.
Meanwhile, IMF chief, Kristalina Georgieva, has urged China to quicken its pace towards debt restructuring agreements for several countries, including Zambia, Ghana, and Ethiopia.
Speaking after her visit to China last month, Georgieva met with Li Qiang, China’s new top economic official, who she described as “very approachable and pragmatic.” Georgieva expressed her concerns over the prolonged duration it takes to reach debt resolution and the need to accelerate China’s participation in resolving debt relief cases.
The issue of debt restructuring has been a contentious one, with Western countries blaming China for causing delays in setting up restructuring agreements for heavily indebted countries.
Georgieva noted that China has multiple institutions that deal with debt, making it complicated domestically. However, she emphasized the need for China to play a constructive role in resolving these issues and speed up its participation.
The IMF chief revealed that approximately 60% of low-income countries are already in or at risk of debt distress, with about 25% of emerging economies facing high risk and “default-like” borrowing spreads. Georgieva called for greater progress on the matter and commended China for its help in reaching a debt relief deal for Chad and Sri Lanka, a middle-income country that was not eligible for help under the G20 framework.