Ghana’s negotiations for the second tranche of the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) credit facility are allegedly at a standstill, according to the Minority in Parliament.

The Minority claims that the statement is the result of a dispute between the government and the International Creditors’ Committee (ICC) over the threshold for including external debt in the debt restructuring process. The next $600 million tranche’s release is in doubt due to this disagreement.

Ghana is currently in a difficult situation, according to Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, who made the accusation during his closing remarks on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, during the Parliamentary debate on the 2024 budget.

“Mr. Speaker, it will interest you to know that there is a deadlock in the negotiation between Ghana and the International Creditors Committee (ICC) made up of China and the Paris Club 50. There is a major disagreement on the cut-off point, regarding the external debt that must be excluded from the restructuring. Mr. Speaker, I do not need to sound the alarm that at this point, Ghana is between a rock and a hard place.”

“Ghana will need to decide either to accept the cut-off date as proposed by the International Creditors Committee and get the IMF Board to approve our USD600 million second tranche or refuse to accept.”

He clarified that a greater percentage of external debt would be left out of the restructuring if the government agreed to the ICC’s cut-off point. Ghana would therefore have to include the debt’s servicing costs right away in its budget.

“The moment we begin the servicing of our external debt, everything in this budget will change.”

Ghana had previously obtained a $3 billion IMF bailout package to deal with its economic problems, which included a depreciating cedi, high inflation, and debt accumulation. The first installment of $600 million from the Bretton Woods organization has already been given to the nation.

Before releasing the next installment of the bailout package, the IMF has stated that it is waiting to hear from Ghana’s bilateral creditors.

The payment of these vital monies could be further postponed due to the current impasse with the ICC.