Pressure is building on Ghana to return to international capital markets, but the Finance Ministry is holding its ground, insisting the country is in no hurry despite investor appetite picking up at the IMF/World Bank meetings in Bangkok.
Technical Advisor to the Finance Minister, Dr Theo Achampong, confirmed the calls had come up directly in engagements with international banks.
"We want to continue stabilising things for now, build strong international reserves," he said, adding bluntly, "As we speak, there is no motivation to go to the international capital market."
He pointed to Ghana's borrowing needs over the coming year as proof the markets simply are not necessary right now. "When you look at our borrowing needs over the one year, the capital market is not an option," he said.
Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson echoed that position at a joint press conference with the visiting IMF mission during the latest ECF review.
"We are not in a hurry to go onto the international capital markets, and if we find a need to go to the international capital markets, we will accordingly inform the people of Ghana," he said.
He noted the 2026 Budget contains no provision for market financing, effectively shutting the door on that option for the year regardless of how loudly investors knock.
Why Investors Are Pushing
The appetite is real. Offshore investors and fund managers at the Bangkok meetings, including sessions attended by Joy Business, pointed to Ghana's improving reserves, credit rating upgrades and its non-financing Policy Coordination Instrument with the IMF as reasons for confidence.
"With Ghana being under this PCI Programme, we don't see things deteriorating or Ghana departing from the current economic gains soon," one fund manager said.
Part of the pitch is also about returns. A Ghanaian Eurobond could yield around 8 percent, compared with roughly 5 percent or less in the US market, an attractive spread for investors looking to diversify, even though that gap represents a real borrowing cost for Ghana.
Another investor noted that safeguards under the PCI could lower the risk of a repeat default, despite lingering scars from Ghana's last one.
Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Johnson Asiama told investors at one session that the central bank would keep taking whatever monetary policy steps are needed to protect currency stability and hold inflation down, regardless of external pressures.
IMF and ISSER Urge Patience
The IMF itself is advising caution. Resident Representative Dr Adrian Alter said on Channel One TV that Ghana's priority should be consolidating the gains from debt restructuring and building up domestic financing capacity before even thinking about markets again.
He noted central government debt has fallen to about 45 percent of GDP, a level the Fund had not expected Ghana to hit until 2034, with the country's debt risk now rated moderate rather than high.
Professor Peter Quartey of ISSER struck a similar note in his inaugural lecture at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, warning against a hasty return to Eurobond borrowing.
Titled "Debt, Investment, and Growth in Ghana: Did We Borrow to Consume?", his lecture called for a measured approach, cautioning that leaning too heavily on external debt again could undo the stability Ghana has only just begun to rebuild.
