THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed its readiness to help Ghana stabilise its economy in order to lay the ground for stronger growth.
Managing Director of IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, who disclosed this in a tweet after a meeting with the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and his team, said the fund is again prepared to help the most vulnerable.
According to her, the meeting was held on Ghana’s economic challenges and the way forward, while describing it as constructive.
“Constructive meeting w/@ Finance Minister Ofori-Atta & his team on Ghana’s economic challenges and the way forward,” she tweeted after the meeting.
“We are ready to do our part to help the authorities stabilise the economy, lay the ground for stronger growth & help the most vulnerable,” Kristalina stressed.
Officials of the IMF visited Ghana in July this year to conclude on the country’s fact-finding mission after Ghana applied to the fund.
President Akufo-Addo, on July 1, 2022, directed the Finance Minister to commence engagements with the IMF to provide support to Ghana’s economic programme.
Pursuant to this, a delegation from the Fund arrived in Accra to commence in-person meetings with the Government of Ghana on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.
US$3 Billion
Recently, Fitch Ratings confirmed that Ghana is likely to receive US$3 billion over three years from the programme of the IMF.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that the loan requested was double the amount of US$1.5 billion the country requested a month ago.
The rating agency, after downgrading the country’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to CCC from B-, said, “We estimate that the programme could disburse as much as $3 billion and unlock budget support from other multilateral lenders.”
According to Fitch, the deal with the IMF is likely to come through within the next six months.
It indicated, however, that the timing of such a deal was uncertain and would be dependent on the government’s ability to present a credible fiscal reform plan in line with increasing government revenue and improving debt affordability metrics.
Good Deal
Already, President Akufo-Addo has assured the nation that his government would negotiate a good deal with the IMF, pledging that the welfare of Ghanaians will serve as a guide for the negotiation.
According to him, he looks forward to a deal that will allow the government to revive the economy and continue “the task of building a stronger economy than we had before.”
Addressing the National Delegates Conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the Accra Sports Stadium in the national capital last month, President Akufo-Addo said, “We will be in the position, not only to negotiate, but implement a good arrangement.”
“Our responsibility is to confront the difficulties that are confronting our people and find an effective solution to it, and that is exactly what we are going to do.
“We came to office under the IMF programme; a derailed IMF programme which we inherited from the Mahama administration,” he stated, and added that the NPP has a tradition of taking Ghana out of difficulties.
He noted that the government worked hard to exit the country from the IMF programme, continuing, “And we were in the process of building a strong economy until the event of COVID-19 and its consequences.”
“I want to assure you and assure the people of Ghana that we are going to negotiate a good deal with the IMF; a deal that will allow us to revive our economy and to continue that task of building a stronger economy than we had before,” the President stressed.
Bounce Back
He reiterated that the NPP, with its tradition, took Ghana out of HIPC in President Kufuor’s time, and added, “We took Ghana out of the derailed IMF programme of 2015.”
“Our party was the one that made it possible for us to survive the COVID-19 pandemic with one of the lowest mortality rates of any government of any country anywhere in the world,” the President touted.
“We have done it before, and believe me, we are going to do it again. In doing so, the strong economy that we are going to build, is the economy that is going to provide the platform for our victory in 2024,” he declared.
President Akuffo-Addo said, “It is our historic duty to maintain the NPP in office under a new candidate and new leader, but with the same commitments of good governance, sound economic management, respect for human rights and rule of law.”
BY Ernest Kofi Adu & Vincent Kubi