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 supports sustainable development and debt management, according to Liu Kun.
“We know that these are temporary issues, which we as accountable creditors remain committed to resolving,” he continued. We have a duty to provide a hand because of the long-standing and profitable connection between Ghana and China.
Chinese officials are confident in Ghana’s ability to manage its economy and maintain economic viability in the long run.
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 through a difficult but essential domestic debt exchange program, 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 traveled 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 program 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 also said that the government’s current top priority is getting IMF board approval, with the specifics of debt treatment operations coming later.