The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rejected claims of a stalemate in Ghana’s negotiations for the second tranche of the $3 billion credit facility from the Bretton Woods institution.
The IMF insists Ghana’s discussions with external creditors were still ongoing.
“The discussions between Ghana and the Official Creditor Committee on a debt treatment under the G-20 Common Framework that is consistent with the objective of the IMF-supported program are ongoing. We hope that an agreement can be reached soon, so that we can bring the program to the Board for the first review in the coming weeks,” an IMF spokesperson told Citi News.
This comes on the back of claims by the Minority Leader, Dr. Ato Forson, that the negotiation has suffered a setback and the next $600 million package is in limbo.
According to him, this stems from a disagreement between the government and the Official Creditors Committee (OCC) regarding the cut-off point for the external debt to be included in the debt restructuring exercise.
“Mr. Speaker, it will interest you to know that there is a deadlock in the negotiation between Ghana and the International Official Creditors Committee (OCC) made up of China and the Paris Club 50. There is a major disagreement on the cut-off point, regarding the external debt that must be excluded from the restructuring. Mr. Speaker, I do not need to sound the alarm that at this point, Ghana is between a rock and a hard place,” Dr. Forson said in Parliament on Wednesday, November 29, 2023.