Ghana has secured 16 of the 25 bilateral debt restructuring agreements with official creditors. Negotiations with a small group of non-bonded commercial creditors remain as the country moves closer to completing its external debt restructuring.
The latest assessment by the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) indicates that the remaining non-bonded commercial creditors account for less than 5 per cent of the debt covered by the restructuring exercise.
The report, released on the sidelines of the Annual IMF–World Bank Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, said discussions with the outstanding commercial creditors were ongoing.
The 16 agreements signed so far involve members of Ghana’s Official Creditor Committee (OCC), marking further progress in implementing the debt treatment arrangements reached under the restructuring programme.
The development brings Ghana closer to resolving the external debt crisis that forced the government to suspend payments on selected external obligations in December 2022.
The suspension covered Eurobonds, commercial loans and selected bilateral debts as the government sought to restore debt sustainability and secure financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Ghana subsequently established the OCC on May 12, 2023, to coordinate negotiations with bilateral creditors under the G20 Common Framework.
Financing assurances from official creditors helped pave the way for approval of Ghana’s US$3 billion IMF programme, which came with an initial disbursement of US$600 million.
Global restructuring progress
The GSDR report said progress had also been recorded in other countries undergoing debt restructuring, including Ethiopia, Zambia, Sri Lanka and Suriname.
Since April 2026, 22 new bilateral agreements have been signed across the restructuring cases covered by the report.
It noted that, apart from Ethiopia—where a bond exchange remained outstanding—unresolved creditor negotiations in the other cases largely involved residual commercial creditors.
The GSDR, launched in February 2023, provides a platform for debtor countries and official and private creditors to discuss sovereign debt sustainability and identify ways to address obstacles that delay restructuring.
The latest assessment suggests that Ghana’s restructuring has moved beyond some of its major negotiation hurdles, with the remaining task centred on concluding outstanding agreements and resolving claims involving residual commercial creditors.
