Ghana hopes to capitalise on the momentum of a deal last week to restructure $5.4 billion in official creditor debt. Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta told Reuters on Monday that the country will reengage with its international bondholders starting next week.

According to Ofori-Atta, during an interview conducted on the fringes of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual gathering in Marrakech in October, the West African nation will look to carry on the conversation after meeting with holders of its about $13 billion in outstanding Eurobonds.

On January 23, officials will also visit China, he continued. The deal negotiated with Ghana’s Official Creditor Committee, which is co-chaired by China and France, was essential to releasing additional funds from a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout loan.

When the price of debt servicing increased, Ghana defaulted on the majority of its foreign debt in December 2022. It has previously restructured the majority of local debt and is trying to restructure $20 billion of external debt, which came to a total of almost $30 billion at the end of 2022.

Ofori-Atta stated that although the restructuring talks last year were a “very difficult, painful process,” Ghana had “built pretty good momentum.”

To make a decision on the distribution of $600 million from Ghana’s bailout programme, the IMF board is scheduled to convene on Friday. Once a meeting has been planned, getting approval is typically considered a formality and would release funds from more multilateral lenders.

Ofori-Atta revealed that on January 25th, the World Bank is anticipated to make a decision over $550 million in “sorely needed” funding.

Following criticism for its sluggish outcomes, the G20 countries established the Common Framework, a debt restructuring procedure that Ghana is redoing. The Framework was put in place during the COVID-19 epidemic.