Ghana may not get IMF deal – German ambassador reveals

The German ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull has revealed that Ghana’s effort to get an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout may be in danger.

According to the diplomat, the stumbling block on Ghana’s way is China, the country’s biggest creditor. China has been unwilling to have discussions for a possible debt relief to Ghana and that could jeopardize the deal.

As quoted by Joy News, Daniel Krull said “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”.

He added that “Time is of the essence, time is running out. Without this agreement with the bilateral creditors, the IMF package is in severe danger”.

Ghana owes China $1.7 billion and is seeking a debt restructuring with the Asian superpower in order to satisfy the conditions for the IMF bailout. A government delegation was expected to be in China in early March to negotiate a debt restructuring. That has, however, been rescheduled to late March to a scheduled meeting of the National People’s Congress of China in early March.