Ghana’s IMF package in severe danger if talks with China fail – German Ambassador

The German Ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull, has warned of the possibility of Ghana not getting the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout it is seeking.

According to him, Ghana is currently having challenges dealing with its external debt which is critical for the government of Ghana to get the approval of the IMF board for the bailout it is seeking because of China.

He explained that China, which is the greatest external creditor to Ghana, is refusing to participate in arrangements to deal with Ghana’s external debts.

“The biggest elephant in the room is China. China is the largest creditor to Ghana and so far, it’s not fully supporting the setting up of the creditor’s committee where all the creditors will sit down and agree on a package for Ghana.

“Time is of the essence; time is running out. Without this agreement with the bilateral creditors, the IMF package is in severe danger,” the ambassador is quoted to have said in a yet-to-be-aired interview on Foreign Affairs on the Joy News Channel.

Daniel Krull, therefore, urged every Ghanaian including Members of Parliament who have strong connections with China to try and convince the Chinese government to come on board.

Meanwhile, the government of Ghana will this week start actively engaging external debtors with the view to getting debt cancellation, especially from the Paris club of creditors.

The first stop of a government delegation seeking debt restructuring will be in China with Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta will be leading the team expected in Beijing.

China holds a third of Ghana's external debts amounting to $1.7 billion out of a total of $5.7 billion.

Ken Ofori-Atta, according to a Joy News report, told Svenja Schulze, the German Development Minister that China has committed to a bilateral negotiation.

“The big elephant in the room is China as in how they will comport themselves in the comparability of treatment because China wants to do bilateral. We would be visiting China by the end of the week to really discuss how they can envelop as quickly as possible,” he said.

Svenja Schulze on her part assured of German support in helping Ghana to get fair treatment at the Paris club.

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