In a bid to revive the economy due to a drying up of private sector funding, Ghana has appealed to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for concessionary loans. These loans are given on terms that are more favorable than those available in the marketplace, such as a lower interest rate or deferred repayments. President Akufo-Addo made the appeal during a meeting with the Director General of the World Trade Organization. He stated that the state of Ghana’s economy makes it difficult to borrow from the capital market, and pleaded with the Bretton Woods institutions to act in the interest of struggling economies.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), advised struggling economies, especially those in Africa, to readjust how they conduct their affairs. She suggested a re-globalization strategy, using the opportunity to build resilience in global supply chains and to consider other developing countries as possible manufacturing destinations. She also urged Ghana to consider talking to several global supply chains to attract investment.
However, Ghana’s restructuring of its local currency and overseas debt has had a negative impact on two of the nation’s top banks. Ghana Commercial Bank PLC and Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd. have both posted losses for the year to end-December. Ghana Commercial Bank PLC reported a net loss of 593.4 million cedis, its first since 1993. Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd. also reported a loss of 297.8 million cedis. The banks’ losses have been attributed to the country’s restructuring of most of its public debt, estimated at 576 billion cedis.
