The German Ambassador to Ghana says Ghana’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout is in danger.
This, Daniel Krull attributes to China’s unwillingness to engage in possible debt relief.
“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 said in a yet-to-be-aired interview on Foreign Affairs on the Joy News Channel.
“Time is of the essence, time is running out. Without this agreement with the bilateral creditors, the IMF package is in severe danger,” he added.
For this reason, he encouraged Members of Parliament as well as Ghanaians with strong ties with China to convince them to come to the table and agree on a package.
According to him, Germany is ready to come to the table and assist Ghana.
A high-powered government delegation is set to jet off to China in March, hoping to restructure $1.7 owed China as Ghana hopes to complete restructuring of its external debt as part of conditions required to secure an IMF programme.
The meeting with China on debt cancellation was postponed to late March 2023, following the upcoming National People’s Congress of China meeting scheduled for early March.