German Finance Minister calls on G20 to form Creditor Committee on Ghana’s debts

and debt operations to be on a sustainable path to economic development over the next few years.

He commended the government for its e orts to restructure public or sovereign debt and for trying to support private sector banks to preserve their capital and their capability to nance further growth.

On his part, Mr Ofori Atta said Ghana was in the middle of an IMF programme, which required the support of Germany such as forming a creditor committee at the Paris club to accelerate the decision-making process and supporting the IMF fund board to enable Ghana to get approval in March 2023.

committee under the common framework to deal with Ghana’s debt restructuring e orts. Speaking after a meeting with Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, Mr Lindner said the support from the creditors would enable the country to restore economic growth.

“For Germany, it is essential to see a fair burden sharing among all creditors We need a creditor committee as soon as possible. I would like to call on all creditors to join the e orts as swiftly as possible” he said, and urged China, as an important bilateral creditor of Ghana, to participate in such an e ort.

common framework is part of this solution and Germany is willing to play its role,” he said. The bilateral talks centred on International monetary fund (IMF) sta engagement and structural reforms in the energy sector, among others.

Mr Lindner said it was important for Ghana to keep its credibility and turn around its economy quickly to be able to take advantage of the nancial markets.

He said Germany was aware of Ghana’s challenges and had “a vital interest in the success of the Ghanaian economy and we want to see West Africa as a whole stay stable. We are interested in the

He said, “We know that there are opportunities for this country. It has dynamism and we really appreciate the e orts the government has made by expanding its human capital and focusing on improving social mobility but due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation and the impact of the Russian and Ukraine invasion the situation unfortunately is getting worse.”

He said Germany, which was Ghana’s second largest bilateral creditor, was ready to support Ghana’s e ort to bounce back economically.

He said Ghana needed to balance its scal measures in the budget, ensure macro-economic recovery

“Germany has always been strong with their support for us in terms of energy, nancial services and social inclusion and these are all critical components of our growth programme,” he said.

He said Ghana’s debt pro le had increased by some 20 per cent and it was necessary to look at the concept of debt restructuring and debt forgiveness.

He said Ghana’s international creditors would need to take a decision based on common humanity, understanding and how to reposition the global framework “so that we can all have resilience.”

Source: GNA