Ghana's parliament approves $2.8 billion debt restructuring deal

Lawmakers in Ghana have approved a $2.8 billion debt restructuring deal in an effort to ease the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

The West African nation signed a memorandum of understanding with 25 creditor nations, including China and France, in January after defaulting on most of its external debt at the end of 2022.

The restructuring is aimed at reducing Ghana’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 55 percent by 2026. The government is also planing to lower its debtservice-to-revenue ratio to below 18 percent from 2028.

This move is expected to ease financial pressure and support economic growth.

Private creditors are still some $2.7 billion and the country's finance minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, says the government is now in talks to complete the restructuring.

A major producer of both cocoa and gold, Ghana defaulted on most of its 30 billion dollars in international debt under pressure from the Covid 19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rising interest rates.