Ghana expects to receive $1.15bn in funding from the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the end of February, as it negotiates a debt restructuring deal with its bilateral creditors.
Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said that he is confident that the creditors will agree on a memorandum of understanding in a meeting on 8 January.
The agreement will enable the IMF executive board to review Ghana’s performance under a program that started in May and approve a $600m disbursement, which is the second part of its $3bn bailout. Ofori-Atta said that the board is likely to meet on 18 January, despite some delays.
The board approval will also initiate the process for two WB disbursements of $550m in total, Ofori-Atta said. The Bank has pledged $300m for budgetary support and another $250m for Ghana’s Financial Stability Fund. Ofori-Atta said that he is confident, stating, “We are in good shape”.
The disbursement for budgetary support is expected by the end of January, and the contribution to the fund that helps the financial institutions affected by the debt restructuring is expected by the end of February.
