AMBASSADOR AND FINANCE MINISTER SIGN BILATERAL

UNCLAS ACCRA 000650 SIPDIS DEPT PASS EXPORT IMPORT BANK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN KTIA KMCA SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR AND FINANCE MINISTER SIGN BILATERAL PARIS CLUB AGREEMENT REF: A. STATE 32572 ¶B. 2004 STATE 177743 ¶1. Ambassador Yates and GoG Finance Minister Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu signed the bilateral Paris Club debt reduction agreement (Refs A and B) on Thursday, March 31, 2004. Under the agreement, the U.S. forgives USD 4,641,600, which represents 100 percent reduction of the eligible stock of debt owed to the U.S. (Note: ExImBank holds the debt treated by this agreement. End Note) ¶2. Per Ref B instructions, Post faxed a copy of the original to Tim Forsyth and Alisa Wong in EB/IFD/OMA, and pouched the original to Karen Ghaffarkhan in L/T. The Ambassador and Finance Minister signed two copies, with the GoG retaining one original, executed agreement. Embassy has also kept a copy for its records. ¶3. Post issued a press release with photos to local media announcing the signing and congratulating the GoG on its impressive economic achievements over the last two years, which culminated in the IMF/World Bank approval of HIPC completion point in early July 2004 and subsequent Paris Club approval of debt reduction (under "Cologne terms") for Ghana on July 22, 2004. ¶4. Post emphasized in its press release that the USG is supporting Ghana's development in a number of ways, including providing large grant assistance from USAID (approximately USD 550 million since 1995),military to military assistance, and visitor and cultural programs through Public Affairs, and also noting that the U.S. has included Ghana among the 16 countries eligible for significant grant assistance under the Millennium Challenge Account. ¶5. Comment: Post expected the Minister to raise the possibility of forgiveness of post-cutoff date ExIm debt (totaling approximately USD 100 million). The Minister did not raise this issue during the meeting, but we are aware that members of his staff are working on a formal request. The GoG did not issue its own press announcement following the signing. End Comment ¶6. Post appreciates the strong support from EB/IFD/OMA (Tim Forsyth and Alisa Wong) and ExImBank (Cheryl Moriarty, Esteban DelaRiva, and Thomas Matthias). YATES