The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, has stressed the need for the Government of Ghana to address payment arrears to American companies to improve its business climate.

Ranking Member of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator James E.

Risch, claimed that Ghana owes approximately $251 million in arrears to several U.S.-based businesses and demanded that the US leverages its position as the IMF's [International Monetary Fund] largest shareholder to ask the IMF to get Ghana to repay its debts to American entities.

Speaking to journalists in Accra, the US Ambassador, Virginia Palmer, noted that the country's indebtedness to American companies remains a major concern. "There is a need to make Ghana welcoming to foreign and local investors, exporters, and traders.