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The government is confident of closing the Domestic Debt Exchange programme early next week to enable it to focus on the country’s external debt, a Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei Asare has said.
She said despite the few hitches experienced after the announcement of the domestic debt swap deal, the government was confident of closing the arrangement by Friday, and making a settlement by Tuesday, February 14.
The Deputy Minister said this at the ongoing SIGA Annual Stakeholder Meeting in Kwahu in the Eastern region.
The country’s economy is faced with serious challenges, with debt reaching an unsustainable level of GH¢575 billion as of November 2022, representing over 90 per cent of GDP.
This prompted the government to formally approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July 2022 for a US$3 billion three-year extended credit facility programme to revive the ailing economy.
But this programme is dependent on the country’s ability to restructure both its domestic and external debts.
Mrs Abena Osei said the government was very hopeful and working hard to secure the IMF deal before the end of March 2023.
“After approaching the IMF in July 2022, we have worked with all the stakeholders locally and the fund to make sure we arrive at a programme. We did this in record time by ensuring we reached a staff-level agreement in December 2022.
“We will conclude the domestic debt exchange programme by Friday and settle on the 14th of February then we can now focus on our external debt and through that get to the board of the IMF in March and get a programme,” she stated.
She said the IMF programme would be an anchor to getting the economy back on track and also get other bilateral partners to support the country.
SOURCE: Daily Graphic
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