Africa

IMF OK's $3 Billion for Ghana

FILE: A man holds a 100 cedis Ghana currency note in Accra, Ghana, on December 1, 2022. Ghana is battling its worst economic crisis in decades. The government in December 2022 signed a $3 billion bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund to firm up its public finances.

ACCRA - The International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved a $3 billion, three-year extended credit facility for Ghana, three senior Ghanaian officials said on Wednesday, as the West African country tries to overcome its worst economic crisis in a generation.

Two other sources familiar with the process said the IMF agreement marked an important step forward for Ghana, but cautioned that authorities in the West African country still faced a long road of negotiations and work with its creditors.

Ghana faces a debt overhaul after its already strained finances buckled under the economic fallout from COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ghana's official sector creditors formed a committee co-chaired by China and France and agreed to debt restructuring talks, the Paris Club said last week. This paved the way for a sign-off on the IMF loan, which was agreed at staff level in December.

It is negotiating its international debt rework under the Group of 20's Common Framework platform and completed a domestic debt exchange earlier this year.

Some $5.4 billion of debt to official creditors has been earmarked for restructuring, according to government data, as well as $14.6 billion of debt to private overseas creditors.

The IMF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.