The government of Ghana may be on the verge of another catastrophe in its attempt to secure the restructuring of debts with its biggest lender, China, which will pave way for an agreement to be reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.
The revelation, described by Entrepreneur and Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Bright Simons, disrupts Ghana’s pursuit to reach an agreement with its Chinese counterpart by the end of March 2023, as hopeless and unrealistic.
According to the Mr. Simmons, “Sources familiar with Ghana’s conversation with China’s Exim Bank says the govt’s March ending timeline for a deal is hopelessly unrealistic.”
“They say that whilst Exim is open to fast-tracking, the process must be commercial & on a project by project basis” the statement he tweeted, added.
It may be recalled that the government had to severally postpone the deadline of its much-touted Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as sector players questioned the approach to solving the precarious economic situation which has driven the government to reach a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) with the IMF in December 2022 for a three billion US Dollars bailout.
Indications have it that, Ghana, who were billed to reach an agreement with the Asian superpower earlier in March, 2023, had to postpone the meeting due the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress of China.
It is yet to be known how much of the over US$ 3.4 billion debt owed China would be cancelled to pave way for the conclusion of the IMF Bailout which the government of Ghana relies on to restart the economy amidst the insurgence of Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.