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The timely intervention of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II ensured Ghana’s exit from the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative in record time, leading to debt relief of about $4 Billion from the country’s external creditors, former  President John Agyekum Kufuor, has revealed.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group's International Development Association (IDA) agreed on February 22 and 26, 2002 respectively, to support a comprehensive debt reduction package for Ghana under the enhanced HIPC initiative.

But, according to the former President, Ghana would have lost out on the benefits of the programme, had Otumfuo not made a last-minute intervention.

Challenge 

Speaking when a delegation from the E ON 3 Group and its key partners presented the Otumfuo commemorative gold coin to him at his residence in Accra on January 7, 2022,   the former President explained that although his government worked hard to reach the completion point of the HIPC programme, it faced a major challenge, as the board of the IMF, which was meeting in Washington, USA, decided against the country’s exit because the government failed observe the conditionality of not increasing wages and salaries. 

As a result, the IMF decided to prolong the country's exit for a year, which could have come with some grave consequences.