ACCRA, June 22 (Reuters) – Ghana’s independent power producers (IPPs) have warned the government of potential power outages from June 30 over the non-payment of an interim percentage of arrears amid long-running debt talks, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday.

In late May, the group rejected a government proposal to restructure $1.58 billion in arrears owed them by the state as part of the West African nation’s efforts to implement a $3 billion loan deal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at addressing its worst economic crisis in a generation.

The power producers said critical operational costs and their own overdue debt service meant they required interim payment of 30% of arrears by June 30.

“Unfortunately, we have not seen any good faith indication or commitment of such impending payment,” the group said in a letter to the finance ministry dated June 21.

“Unless the IPPs receive the interim payment requested by the 30th June 2023, the members of the IPP Chamber will not be in a position to guarantee the continued generation of electricity after 30th June.”

The finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On June 18, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said the government would approve by the end of June an energy sector reform plan which would enable it to tackle debt owed to power producers that had risen to $2 billion by May 2023 from $1.58 billion.

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Sandra Maler)