Ghana should have signed on to the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) so she could have enjoyed a freeze on debt while the gold-, cocoa- and oil-producing country restructured its debt, World Bank Group President David Malpass has said.
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund urged the G20 to set up the DSSI.
Established in May 2020, the DSSI helped countries concentrate their resources on fighting the pandemic and safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of millions of the most vulnerable people.
Forty-eight out of73 eligible countriesparticipated in the initiative before it expired at the end of December 2021.
From May 2020 to December 2021, the initiative suspended$12.9 billion in debt-service paymentsowed by participating countries to their creditors.
The G20 also called on private creditors to participate in the initiative on comparable terms.
Regrettably, only one private creditor participated.
The World Bank and the IMF supported theimplementationof the DSSI—by monitoring spending, enhancing public debt transparency, and ensuring prudent borrowing.
However, he said: “Nigeria and Ghana both, did not ask for the common framework treatment”.
Ghana is currently in negotiations with the IMF for a $3-billion relief to stabilise the faltering economy.
Though no deal has been reached yet, there have been talks in the media of a possible debt-restructuring agreement.
