Ghana Continues to Work Toward a Debt Agreement with Bondholders.

Ghanaians received comfort on Monday, April 15, from the Finance Minister’s office, which announced that talks with bondholders were still proceeding and that an interim arrangement had been reached. Reuters said Ghana could not get a feasible debt agreement with two bondholder groups.

Ghana and its creditors are trying to reach a consensus that aligns with the debt levels specified in the IMF debt sustainability targets. More than a year after Ghana defaulted on most of its $30 billion external debt, the obstacle is a setback for the West African country.

Bondholders like BlackRock and commercial lenders hold 76% of Ghana’s external debt. A sizable chunk of Ghana’s debt is held by multilateral development institutions, the Paris Club, and China. Ghanaians’ suffering has been made worse by the debt crisis, as their country’s currency has lost value relative to the US dollar, and inflation has increased.

The IMF board authorized a $600 million loan program disbursement to Ghana in January.

According to a statement made by Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Minister of Finance, on April 14, the state has “put in place sufficient control and monitoring mechanisms to ensure key targets under the IMF-supported program are met, even though 2024 is an election year.