{"id":37179,"date":"2025-07-25T20:51:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T20:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/37179\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T20:51:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T20:51:08","slug":"france-becomes-first-paris-club-member-to-grant-ghana-debt-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/37179\/","title":{"rendered":"France becomes first Paris Club member to grant Ghana debt relief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"177\" data-end=\"393\">Ghana and France have signed a bilateral agreement formalizing debt relief as part of Ghana\u2019s ongoing external debt restructuring programme, marking a significant milestone in the country\u2019s economic recovery efforts.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"395\" data-end=\"633\">The agreement, signed on Friday, July 25, makes France the first member of the Paris Club to formally commit to debt relief for Ghana, following the country\u2019s slide into unsustainable debt levels in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"635\" data-end=\"873\">At the signing ceremony, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson expressed gratitude to the French government for its support and urged other Paris Club members to take note of Ghana\u2019s recent economic progress and follow France\u2019s example.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday is a milestone, a milestone in the sense that it has taken us some time to get here. But it is the most significant one. The most significant one, which will pave the way for others to also emulate the steps taken by France in signing this bilateral agreement\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe expect to complete the process as soon as possible so that Ghana will breathe again.\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1213839 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_5800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"888\" height=\"592\"  \/><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1096\" data-end=\"1338\">During the presentation of the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday 25 July, 2025, Dr. Forson noted that the agreement follows parliamentary approval of the indicative terms outlined by the Official Creditor Committee (OCC).<\/p>\n<p>The ceremony was graced by the French Ambassador to Ghana, Jules Armand Aniambossou, and the Co-Chair of the Official Creditors Committee and Secretary-General of the Paris Club, William Roos. Also present were officials from Ghana\u2019s Ministry of Finance, the French government, and the Official Creditors Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Ato Forson expressed optimism that Ghana\u2019s recent economic progress would be recognised by other members of the Paris Club framework, expediting the country\u2019s external debt restructuring process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have gone through turbulent signs but we can see that hope is in sight. We can see that the economy is recovering from economic crises. Inflation which was at 54% is now 13.7% and we expect it to be better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador Aniambossou described France\u2019s support as a reflection of the strong ties between both countries. He noted that Ghana\u2019s role in its own economic recovery warranted decisive action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis decision was taken not recognise the relationship between the two countries. When your friend or family is facing difficulties, you have to show that you are there for them and take some key actions. This day is also crucial because it enables Ghana to continue its financial recovery,\u201d\u00a0 he noted.<\/p>\n<p>William Roos also called for deeper collaboration among creditors to ensure the success of Ghana\u2019s debt restructuring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to learn to work together. We have to progressively build a strong trust between France, China and the G20 and Paris Club members,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ghana and France have signed a bilateral agreement formalizing debt relief as part of Ghana\u2019s ongoing external debt&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101],"class_list":["post-37179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}