The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has refuted claims that Ghana has again been added to the list of Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).
A statement by the IMF’s Resident Representative to Ghana, Dr. Albert Touna-Mama clarified that the HIPC Initiative is essentially closed for countries that have already reached the Completion Point. Ghana successfully reached the Completion Point in July 2004.
He noted in the statement that the list of countries that have qualified for the HIPC Initiative since its inception in 1996 is regularly updated and must not be interpreted as a new HIPC list.
Dr. Touna-Mama said any such interpretation is flawed and may be deceptive.
He noted that the recent update on Ghana’s debt-to-GDP ratio “has not triggered any decision or action by the IMF.
For further clarification on the Fund’s Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, he referred the public to check the IMF website for additional details.
The government yesterday also rejected claims about Ghana’s HIPC status.
It said this was a deliberate attempt by the NDC to discredit the work of the Akufo-Addo administration.
These reactions from IMF and government come after a member of the Energy Committee of Parliament, John Jinapor said although Ghana may not have been added to the list of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), all indicators show that the country is already on that path.
He insisted that available data point to the fact that the country is in some serious debts.
