Ghana’s planned restructuring of its loans will target $10.5 billion in external debt-service relief during its three-year program with the International Monetary Fund.
The savings are envisaged in the government’s efforts to reduce the ratio of the net present value of public debt to 55% of gross domestic product, and the ratio of external debt service to revenue to 18%, according to an IMF Staff Report published on Thursday. The World Bank will also provide $1.6 billion of budget and balance-of-payments support, it said.
Ghana on Wednesday secured a $3 billion bailout from the IMF to support its economic recovery, with an immediate disbursement of about $600 million. The loan will help replenish Ghana’s foreign-exchange reserves, which have dropped almost 50% from a peak in August 2021 as the central bank used them to defend the cedi.
The country suspended payments on most of its external debt in December. It plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with official creditors by June or July, while reaching an agreement in principle with bondholders over a restructuring term sheet around the same time, the Finance Ministry said last month.
The ministry said in April that about $20 billion of foreign loans are expected to be included in external debt restructuring, including $14.6 billion from commercial creditors.
Ghana is restructuring its debt under a framework that seeks to improve coordination between the traditional Paris Club of sovereign creditors and new ones like China, now the biggest lender to emerging nations.
The West African nation owes $1.9 billion to China, according to the IMF report. China and France are co-chairing the nation’s official creditors committee.
Zambia and Ethiopia are also using the framework to try and revamp their liabilities after their economies were ravaged by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
