MoU agreement with OCC marks an extraordinary milestone in Ghana’s debt restructuring journey – Finance Minister

Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has extended appreciation to all members of the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the country and the OCC regarding the debt treatment agreed upon in January 2024.

According to the Minister, the agreement with the OCC marks an extraordinary milestone in Ghana’s debt restructuring journey.

He said it will strengthen Ghana’s ambitious reform agenda as well.

“The Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Republic of Ghana extends our gratitude to all members of the OCC, particularly the committee’s co-chairs, China and France, for their unwavering commitment to assisting our country in resolving its debt issues. This landmark agreement marks an extraordinary milestone in Ghana’s debt restructuring journey and will further strengthen our ambitious reform agenda with the strong support of our development partners,” Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam said after the agreement.

In a press release from the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, June 12, it said the MoU formalises the agreement in principle reached with Official Creditors in January and marks a crucial step towards Ghana restoring long-term debt sustainability.

“The financial terms of the agreement remain unchanged and it provides significant debt service relief during the Fund-supported program period, allowing financial resources to be directed towards critical areas such as infrastructure, healthcare and education,” parts of the press release said.

The formalisation of the OCC agreement is expected to pave the way for the approval by the IMF Executive Board of the second review of the Fund-supported Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), allowing the next tranche of IMF financing of US$360million to be disbursed.

The IMF Board’s approval should also trigger more financial assistance from Ghana’s development partners, particularly the World Bank.

The agreement will also bolster the current and ongoing discussions with private creditors, with whom Ghana remains committed to finding a comparable agreement as early as possible.