Abebe Selassie, Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has stated that the fund will not require the Ghanaian government to implement additional adjustments.
He expressed optimism that ongoing discussions among official creditors will facilitate the conclusion of talks, enabling the release of the third tranche of funds.
Abebe Selassie emphasized Ghana’s fulfilment of its obligations in securing the third tranche, highlighting the remaining responsibility on external creditors to fulfil their commitments for the board’s approval of the disbursement.
Answering questions at a session at the World Bank Bank, IMF Spring Meetings in Washington on Thursday, April 18, he said “Whereas it took nine months or more for Zambia to get the official creditor committee to be created, in Ghana’s case it was very rapid and that is what allowed us to go to the board and get the programme approved.
“We are very hopeful that ongoing discussions among official creditors will also expeditiously allow us to conclude the upcoming review. Again the most recent mission reached an agreement with the government on policies that are needed to tackle the most recent issues and also put in place an important budget for next year.
“So Ghana has done its fair share and it is for creditors to take steps on this, we are not going to ask the government to do more adjustments because creditors haven’t asked either. So we will provide all the information necessary so creditors can move, allowing us to go to the board as soon as possible.”
Ghana earlier this week announced that it had failed to secure a workable debt deal with two bondholder groups in its push to restructure $13 billion of international bonds, the government said on Monday, in a blow to its efforts to swiftly emerge from default and economic crisis.
Formal talks were on hold for now after the International Monetary Fund indicated that the deal would not fit its debt sustainability parameters, the government said in a statement.
“We will regroup to continue negotiations until we reach a deal that is consistent with IMF debt sustainability targets,” the office of Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam said on X, after the government had released its regulatory statement.
