BREAKING: Ghana Halts Payments Of External Debt To Salvage Dwindling Economy

Ghana has announced the suspension of debt service payments on certain categories of external debt, OduNews reports.

These external debts include Eurobonds, commercial loans and most bilateral debt.

The country’s ministry of finance announced this in a statement on Monday.

The ministry said the measure was necessary to prevent a further deterioration in the economic, financial, and social situation in Ghana.

“This suspension will include the payments on our Eurobonds; our commercial term loans; and on most of our bilateral debt,” the statement reads.

“This suspension will not include the payments of our multilateral debt, new debts (whether multilateral or otherwise) contracted after 19th December 2022 or debts related to certain short-term trade facilities.

“We are also evaluating certain specific debts related to projects with the highest socio-economic impact for Ghana which may have to be excluded. This suspension is an interim emergency measure pending future agreements with all relevant creditors.”

Ghana’s external bonds, which are trading at a deeply distressing level of 31-37 cents in the dollar, slipped with the 2051 bond losing 0.4 cents, Tradeweb data showed.

Ghana’s annual inflation was above 50% in November and the government has said it is spending between 70 and 100% of revenue on interest payments.