The Chinese government has stated that it is willing to assist Ghana with its current short-term liquidity issues.
The Asian nation has also promised to keep supporting Ghana’s long-term and medium-term development goals.
When Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, sent a group to China to negotiate a $1.7 billion debt, Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun provided the assurance.
“China believes in promoting debt sustainability and sustainable development,” Liu Kun, said.
He added “we know that these are short-term challenges which we as responsible creditors remain committed to resolving. The long-standing and prosperous relationship between Ghana and China imposes on us, a responsibility to help”.
“Chinese authorities have confidence in Ghana’s economic management and its long-term economic viability.”
The finance minister informed his Chinese counterpart that significant budgetary adjustments, debt restructuring, and financial assurances were necessary for Ghana’s Fund programme.
He added that the nation had recently undergone a difficult but necessary domestic debt exchange programme, with a participation rate of 85%, which he claimed showed the nation’s readiness to take the required steps to realign its fiscal course.
The Finance Minister of Ghana said last week that discussions with China over Ghana’s debt had been fruitful and encouraging.
According to a person with knowledge of the discussions, Mr. Ofori-Atta travelled to Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese authorities to discuss a proposed restructuring of Ghana’s debt.
China also made known on Thursday that it wanted to improve contacts with Ghana in order to find a suitable solution to the country’s financial problems, according to the foreign ministry of China.
Ghana, which is going through its worst economic crisis in a decade, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a staff-level agreement in December for a $3 billion loan, but the IMF’s board must first approve the programme before lenders can be asked to offer financial commitments.
The largest bilateral creditor to Ghana is China, which owes the country around $1.7 billion.
The insider noted that the government’s top priority for now is getting IMF board approval, with the specifics of debt relief operations coming later.
