Oct 11 (Reuters) – Global credit ratings agency Moody’s on Friday upgraded Ghana’s long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings to “Caa2” from “Caa3” and “Ca,” respectively, citing extensive debt treatment that has significantly alleviated the government’s financial burdens.
The agency also revised the West African country’s outlook to “positive” from “stable.”
The “positive outlook reflects the potential for liquidity risk to ease amid ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts supported by an IMF programme,” Moody’s said in a statement.
Last week, the International Monetary Fund staff and officials in Ghana reached an agreement on their third review of the country’s $3 billion loan programme.
In October, more than 90% of Ghana’s bondholders approved a $13 billion debt overhaul, paving way for the gold and cocoa producer to emerge from its near $30 billion debt default in 2022.
Moody’s also said it expects the country’s debt to keep decreasing, though at a slow pace as the government resumes paying interest and principal on all its debts.
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Reporting by Anandita Mehrotra in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona
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