Ghana's official creditors are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss restructuring some $5.4 billion in loans to the country, three sources told Reuters, a key step required to secure the next tranche of funding from the International Monetary Fund.

The bilateral lenders, including governments of China and France who co-chair the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), hold around a quarter of Ghana's $20 billion external debt earmarked for restructuring.

Discussions at the meeting are once again expected to focus on an agreement about a "cut-off date" - the date after which new loans from bilateral creditors will not be restructured, the sources with knowledge of the matter said. Defining a cut-off date has emerged as a stumbling block for Ghana in its debt rework.

Some creditors are said to prefer Dec. 31, 2022 as a cut off date with Ghana having defaulted earlier that month, according to sources. However, others pushed for March 24, 2020 because that was when the Group of 20 introduced its debt service suspension initiative (DSSI) to help the world's poorest countries cope with the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. Ghana did not participate in the DSSI.

(Reporting by Rachel Savage, Maxwell Akalaare Adombila and Jorgelina do Rosario, writing by Karin Strohecker, editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)