Ghana Closes In on Debt Restructuring as 16 of 25 Bilateral Deals Finalized

Ghana’s long-running external debt restructuring is entering its final stretch, with 16 of 25 bilateral agreements with official creditors now completed, according to a new assessment by the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR).

The report, released on the sidelines of the Annual IMF–World Bank Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, said negotiations are now concentrated on a small group of remaining non-bonded commercial creditors, who account for less than 5% of the debt covered by the restructuring exercise.

The bilateral agreements involve members of Ghana’s Official Creditor Committee (OCC). Their completion marks further progress toward implementing the country’s overall debt treatment arrangements, the GSDR said.

The GSDR brings together debtor countries and official and private creditors to improve understanding of debt sustainability and sovereign debt restructuring challenges. Launched in February 2023, the forum also seeks to identify ways to address obstacles that delay restructuring processes.

Background to the Restructuring

Ghana announced a suspension of payments on selected external debts in December 2022 as part of efforts to restructure its obligations and secure support from the International Monetary Fund. The suspension covered Eurobonds, commercial loans and selected bilateral debts.

On May 12, 2023, Ghana established an Official Creditor Committee to coordinate the restructuring of its bilateral debt under the G20 Common Framework. Financing assurances from creditors helped pave the way for approval of Ghana’s US600 million.

In mid-2025, Ghana’s parliament approved a debt relief deal with 25 creditor nations, rescheduling payments due between December 2022 and December 2026 and pushing repayments out to the 2039–2043 period.

Broader Progress and Remaining Concerns

The latest GSDR assessment indicates that the process has advanced substantially, with attention now focused on concluding outstanding agreements and resolving claims involving remaining commercial creditors.

The report said restructuring cases had continued to progress since April 2026, including Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia under the Common Framework, as well as Sri Lanka and Suriname outside it.

Apart from Ethiopia, where a bond exchange remained pending, the report said outstanding creditor negotiations in these cases involved only residual commercial creditors. It also noted progress in implementing agreements with official bilateral creditors, with 22 new bilateral agreements signed across the restructuring cases since April. The Paris Club website tracks implementation through updates, the report added.

For Ghana, the focus now shifts to closing the remaining gap with commercial creditors and ensuring final agreements are consistent with the comparability-of-treatment principle required under the Common Framework. With the commercial holdouts representing a minimal share of the debt, Accra appears poised to close the chapter on a restructuring that has dominated its economic policy for nearly half a decade.