Ghana's Ambassador to China makes appeal over debts owed Chinese government

Ghana's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the People's Republic of China, Dr Winfred Nii Okai Hammond has called on the Chinese government to reschedule the maturities of debts owed the Chinese government to enable Ghana to reach its debt targets as set by the International Monetary Funds (IMF).

According to Dr. Hammond, Ghana is counting on its bilateral creditors to reschedule loan maturities and reduce interest rates.

“Ghana’s debt owed to China amounts to US$ 1.9bn which is more than one-third of the total bilateral debt. The first illustrative debt treatment scenario we have devised does not anticipate any principal haircut. To reach the IMF debt targets, we would need our bilateral creditors to reschedule the maturities (Principal and Interest) falling due during the period of the IMF program
(2023-2026) at low rate (c. 2%),” he explained.

He added that, in addition to reduced interest rates, he requested a grace period of c.10 years and repayments of up to 17 years on the rescheduled amounts to generate sufficient relief.

“We would need a grace period of c. 10 years and repayments up to 17 years on the rescheduled amounts to generate sufficient relief. We would also need to cap the variable part of interest rate under floating rate facilities. This effort is expected to be significantly lower than what has been asked by others.”

These remarks were made at a meeting on March 2, 2023.

The engagement of the Chinese delegation with Ghana's Vice President, and the two Cabinet Ministers of MoF and MFARI, was orchestrated by H. E. Dr Hammond and his team at the Ghana Embassy in Beijing, who have been engaging in a series of discussions and negotiations with their host Ministry of Foreign Affairs, prior to this visit. Ambassador Hammond further facilitated the mission of the Chinese delegation to Ghana by accompanying and engaging in all their deliberations.

Find the full speech below.



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