Ghana aims to finish restructuring its external debt as soon as possible so it can emerge from its worst economic crisis in a generation, President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Tuesday.
The West African country, which defaulted on most of its overseas debt in December 2022 after servicing costs soared, restructured most of its local debt and is pushing for a deal with holders of about $13 billion in international bonds.
"We are committed to concluding the external debt restructuring process as soon as possible, so we move past the crisis," Akufo-Addo said in a state of the nation address in parliament.
The IMF has expressed its support for the new minister.
Ghana's economy has started to recover since the government last year secured a $3 billion loan programme with the IMF, and in January reached a deal to restructure $5.4 billion of loans with its official creditors.
The country's gold output is expected to reach 4.5 million ounces per year with the launch of three big new mines after the largest gold producer on the continent recorded output of 4 million ounces last year, the president said in his speech.
The government will also ask U.S.-based Newmont Corp (NEM.N), the world's top gold producer, to give priority to Ghanaian investors in the sale of its Akyem mine, the third-largest in the country.
The president, who will be stepping down next year as he has reached a two-term limit, also suggested to local cocoa producers that the minimum guaranteed price paid to farmers for their beans would rise, given a surge in global prices.
($1 = 12.5000 Ghanaian cedi)
