The government has announced suspension of all debt service payments under certain categories of the country’s external debt, pending an orderly restructuring of the affected obligations.
This suspension will include the payments on the country’s Eurobonds; commercial term loans; and on most of the country’s bilateral debt.
This suspension, according to a statement issued by the Finance Ministry, will not include the payments of Ghana’s multilateral debt, new debts (whether multilateral or otherwise) contracted after 19th December 2022 or debts related to certain short term trade facilities.
“We are also evaluating certain specific debts related to projects with the highest socio-economic impact for Ghana which may have to be excluded,” the statement said.
This suspension, according to government, is an interim emergency measure pending future agreements with all relevant creditors.
The suspension of all debt service is in the interim, an additional emergency measure put in place by the government to prevent a further deterioration of the economic, financial, and social situation in Ghana after announcing a debt exchange programme.
The Finance Ministry in the statement said as it stands, “our financial resources, including the Bank of Ghana’s international reserves, are limited and need to be preserved at this critical juncture.”
To this end, the government said it stands ready to engage in discussions with all of its external creditors to make Ghana’s debt sustainable through a fair, transparent and comprehensive debt restructuring exercise in line with international best practices.
Read details of the full statement below:
