Ghana's economy likely to collapse next week

If Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is unable to restructure the country’s debt in order to get a $3 billion credit line from the International Monetary Fund, the economy will implode within the next week (IMF).

The minister responded to pensioner bondholders who were upset about being included in the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP) on February 6, 2023,  “We need to be mindful that we really need to be successful in going to the fund by this March to avoid what we all experienced last year which we all don’t want to experience again.”
Ghana’s economy likely to collapse next week

Ghana’s economy in 2022 was marked by high inflation, doubled depreciation, rising fuel costs, and increased transportation costs. Since then, the economy has been in a state of crisis, and in order to stabilize it, the government must restructure its debt.

In order to properly implement its DDEP, which was launched in December 2022, the government has a lot of work to perform.

By removing them from the program last week, the administration was able to resolve its problems with the retirees who had been picketing outside the Finance Ministry for approximately two weeks.

The government has yet to find a solution to its issues with the Individual Bondholders Forum, though.

The forum claims that the government has not yet paid them over GH4 billion in interest and principal on loans on which it defaulted. The due date for these outstanding bonds was February 6, 2023.

From February 20–24, 2023, they would be picketing in Independent Square, according to the forum.

Members of the Forum were not visible at the venue as of Monday or Tuesday.

As Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta promised that all overdue coupons would be paid after February 21, 2023, it is unclear if they are making progress in their negotiations with the government.

Additionally, the outstanding matured bond has not yet been paid as of today, February 22.

The Ghanaian government is attempting to have China’s debt forgiven in the interim.

China makes up nearly a third of the $5.7 billion loan, therefore it is crucial that we work with them, according to the finance minister.