Akufo-Addo wants external debt restructuring concluded ‘as soon as possible’
The President, Nana Akufo-Addo, says his government is committed to concluding the external debt restructuring process as soon as possible so that the nation can move past the current economic crisis.
Ghana is reworking its debts in line with the conditions of a $3 billion bailout it got from the International Monetary Fund last year.
The government reached a deal with bilateral creditors last month to restructure $5.4 billion of loans and aims to reach a similar agreement with commercial creditors by the end of March.
The country has halted payments on most of its external debt for more than a year, including on $13 billion of Eurobonds.
Delivering his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, the President noted, “We are committed to concluding the external debt restructuring process as soon as possible, so we move past the crisis.”
The President, in the SONA address, sought to defend some of the decisions his administration had made to meet the conditions of the IMF program, which requires Ghana to post a primary surplus in 2024 after years of running a deficit.
“The government had to take a lot of unpleasant, but unavoidable measures, to bring stability and confidence back to the economy. These included tax measures that we did not like, but we knew we had to take in the knowledge that the medicine would be bitter, but temporary,” he remarked.
“We were bruised, but we are healing. We have recovered our footing, we have dusted ourselves off, and now we face tomorrow with confidence,” the President added.
