On Tuesday, October 27, some websites in Ghana reported that the West African country has been classified and listed as a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) on the website of the World Bank.
Ghana not back to HIPC – Government debunks
Government has debunked claims that Ghana is back to being Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).
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But Ghana’s Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has described the media reports as false.
According to him, the numerous publications making rounds on social media purporting that the country has returned to HIPC is fake news.
Speaking at the Nation Building Updates on Tuesday in Accra, the Minister noted that because the country is approaching a general election in December, there is a deliberate attempt to discredit the work government has done since assuming office in 2017 to revive the economy.
“There are suggestions being spread particularly on social media that Ghana has been declared HIPC again and I am sure you would have noticed that a lot of persons are sharing materials on social media that the IMF or World Bank has declared Ghana HIPC or listed Ghana as one of the HIPC countries and it is a suggestion that the economy is not as good a shape that we claim it is,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah noted.
“… Categorically we say to you it is not true that Ghana has been declared HIPC or has been added to the list of HIPC countries,” he added.
The HIPC was a group of 39 developing countries with high levels of poverty and debt overhang who qualified for financial assistance from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other multilateral, bilateral, and commercial creditors between 1996 and 2001. It was designed to ensure the reduction in the debt levels of poor and indebted countries.
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