ACCRA, Dec 13 (Reuters) – International Monetary Fund (IMF) board approval of a $3 billion, three-year loan for Ghana is expected “early next year”, finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta said on Tuesday after the country reached a staff-level agreement with the fund.

Ghana, which is battling its worst economic crisis in a generation, approached the IMF in July to ask for help after economic hardship spurred widespread street protests.

This was an abrupt U-turn for a governmentthat had repeatedly said it would not do so.

Ghana’s government is ready to complete the actions required of it by the end of January, n Ofori-Atta told reporters in a briefing.

The speed at which the staff level agreement was reached was a “miracle” compared to other African countries, he said, adding that external debt restructuring discussions are ongoing this week.

The IMF executive board will only approve the $3 billion loan package if Ghana undergoes a comprehensive debt restructuring, the IMF’s Mission Chief for Ghana Stephane Roudet said at the same press briefing.

(Reporting by Cooper Inveen and Bhargav Acharya in Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Karin Strohecker and Marc Jones in London; Writing by Sofia Christensen and Rachel Savage; Editing by Alexander Winning, Barbara Lewis, James Macharia Chege)