Supporting agreements with the international institutions
Program with the IMF under the PRGF approved on May 03, 1999
Download the IMF report : Letter of intent
Total external debt of the country
$5 918 million as of December 31, 2000, representing 119% of GDP
$1 893 million of which being due to Paris Club as of December 31, 2000
Amounts treated
$199 million of which $27 million being canceled, of which $172 million being rescheduled
Accorded treatment
Restructuring of public external debt
Categories of debt treated
Treatment of arrears as of May 31, 2001
Treatment of maturities falling due from June 01, 2001 up to January 31, 2002
Repayment profile
Treatment under Naples terms (cancellation rate of 67%)
- repayment of non ODA credits over 23 years, with 6 years of grace, after cancellation to a rate of 67%
- repayment of ODA credits over 40 years with 16 years of grace
Specific provisions
Possibility to conduct debt swaps
On a voluntary and bilateral basis, the Government of each participating creditor country or its appropriate institutions may sell or exchange, in the framework of debt for nature, debt for aid, debt for equity swaps or other local currency debt swaps : (i) all ODA loans ; (ii) the amounts of other outstanding credits, loans and consolidations mentioned in paragraph 1. above, up to 10% of the amounts of outstanding credits as of July 1st, 1995 or up to an amount of 10 million US dollars, whichever is higher. Participating creditor countries and the Government of the Republic of Ghana will inform semi-annually the Secretariat of the Paris Club, who will inform other creditors, of the debt swaps agreements they have implemented. All elements necessary to evaluate the operation, its impact on the Republic of Ghana's economy and on the evolution of creditor's exposure will be transmitted to the Secretariat, including: its nature and purpose ; the parties to the debt swap; the amount, type and value of the debt treated; the price of sale to investors and the expense of the Republic of Ghana.
Free transferability provision
The Government of Ghana guarantees the immediate and unrestricted transfer of the foreign exchange counterpart of all amounts paid in local currency by the private debtors on Ghana for servicing their foreign debt owed to or guaranteed by the participating or Observer Creditor Countries or their appropriate institutions, for which the corresponding payments in local currency have been deposited in the Central Bank of Ghana.
De minimis threshold of 100 000 SDR
Payment of non-consolidated amounts before May 31, 2002
Comparability of treatment provision
In order to secure comparable treatment of its debt due to all its external public or private creditors, the Government of the Republic of Ghana commits itself to seek promptly from all its external creditors debt reduction and reorganisation arrangements on terms comparable in net present value to those set forth in the present Agreed Minute for credits of comparable maturity. Comparability of treatment for debt reduction in net present value is assessed not only on the basis of the reduction in the face value of the debt but also on the terms of repayment of the debts not cancelled.
Consequently, the Government of the Republic of Ghana commits itself to accord all categories of creditors -and in particular creditor countries not participating in the present Agreed Minute, commercial banks and suppliers- a treatment not more favourable than that accorded to the Participating Creditor Countries.
For the purpose of the comparison between the arrangements concluded by the Government of the Republic of Ghana with its creditor countries not listed in the present Agreed Minute on the one hand, and with the Participating Creditor Countries on the other hand, all relevant elements will be taken into account, including the real exposure of the creditor countries not listed in the present Agreed Minute, the level of cash payments received by those creditor countries from the Government of the Republic of Ghana as compared to their share in the Republic of Ghana's external debt, the nature and characteristics of all treatment applied, including debt buy backs, and all characteristics of the reorganised claims and in particular their repayment terms whatever forms they take and in general the financial relations between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the creditor countries not listed in the present Agreed Minute.
Organisation of the session
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Ambroise FAYOLLE, Vice President of the Paris Club.
The head of the debtor country's delegation was Mr. Yaw OASFO-MAAFO, Minister of Finance.
Files attached
pr01236870.pdf (26.51 KB)