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.
- ECG disconnects Cape Coast Sports Stadium over GHC513,000.00 legacy debt
- Government on right track to conclude Domestic Debt Exchange Programme on Friday – Minister
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.
Mr Ofori-Atta travelled to Beijing on Wednesday to meet Chinese officials to discuss a proposed restructuring of Ghana’s debt, according to a source with knowledge of the talks.
China also revealed on Thursday that it would like to enhance communications with Ghana to seek a proper resolution of Ghana’s debt issue, its foreign ministry said.
Ghana, which is struggling with its worst economic crisis in a generation, secured a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December for a $3 billion loan, though asking lenders to provide financing assurances is a condition for the IMF’s board to sign off the programme.
China is Ghana’s biggest bilateral creditor with about $1.7 billion of debt.
The government’s current priority is to secure IMF board approval, with the fine details of debt treatment operations to follow later, the source added.
