Ghana is optimistic of concluding the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get the support of the fund by March.
This is because the issues surrounding the domestic debt exchange programme, one of the requirements, has been “virtually concluded”, paving the way for the country to go the full hog.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo gave this assurance when he held discussions with the visiting German Federal Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner last Friday at the Jubilee House in Accra.
He said the main concerns of the government include the process of concluding talks with the IMF, as well as the specific assistance that would help Ghana fast-track the process of its economic recovery.
“We have already taken one important step forward in concluding a staff level agreement with the IMF. One of the steps was the domestic debt exchange programme which encountered a lot of difficulty; but it has now been virtually concluded.
“We are now looking towards going the full hog and concluding the agreement. We're hoping that will be done by the middle of March,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Germany’s Finance Minister was in Ghana for bilateral talks with the government and the business communities and also to assure Ghana of Germany’s support to help Ghana get out of its current economic challenges.
He was accompanied by an entourage made up of technocrats and Members of Parliament of Germany’s federal Parliament, the Bundestag.
Mr Lindner said the delegation was in the country because although they saw economic challenges in Ghana, they believed they could be turned into opportunities for bilateral trade.
He said he had already had fruitful and constructive exchanges of views with his Ghanaian counterpart, Ken Ofori-Atta, on the current situation and how Germany could be of help to overcome the current situation.
After months speculation, Ghana, on July 1, 2022, announced that it was going to the IMF to seek support.
Subsequently, the government, in December 2022, reached a staff-level agreement with the fund as part of processes leading to a bailout.
President Akufo-Addo welcomed the pledge by Germany to help the country overcome its current economic challenges and appealed to.
