Ghana, Germany hold bilateral talks

A German team headed by Ms. Svenja Schulze, the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), met privately with the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

The discussion about the role of the KfW Development Bank in assisting Ghana in its post-debt reorganization to guarantee economic stability and sustainable development took place at the conference, which was intended to strengthen ties between Ghana and Germany.

The two nations also talked about ways to restructure the energy industry to support the economy and make it more viable, as well as ways to boost regional security and cross-border commerce.

The visiting Minister was told by Mr. Ofori-Atta that Ghana and the IMF had effectively finalized their Staff-Level Agreement (SLA).

A new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of about US$3 billion is to assist the SLA on economic policies and changes in December 2022.

He stated that the parties had reached an understanding regarding the completion of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, performance standards for important macro-fiscal measures, previous actions, and milestones for structural change (MEFP).

According to him, the country’s debt adjustment program must be successful in order for Ghana’s program to be taken into consideration by the IMF Executive Board, which would necessitate outside assistance from nations like Germany.

According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, all previous steps have been completed, and the administration anticipates receiving an IMF Board approval in late March or early April.

The KfW team declared that they were prepared to work with the Development Bank Ghana and argue for the creation of the Ghana Stabilization Fund and a bondholders committee.

During the G20 Finance Ministers’ conference, which is slated to take place at the end of February, the German Minister gave the Finance Minister assurance that Germany was prepared to involve other Development partners who had not yet joined the creditors committee.

The Minister was accompanied for the discussion by Ambassador Daniel Krull, the German ambassador to Ghana.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com