Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta
The economic management team, led by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is leading a government delegation to this year’s Spring Meeting by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The event, being held in the United States of America, provides an opportunity for Ghana’s delegation to highlight government’s economic policies and strategies, as well as investment opportunities in Ghana.
The spring meeting brings thousands of government officials, journalists, civil society organizations and participants from the academia and private sectors across the world together in Washington DC for a meeting with the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
Ghana’s delegation is made up officials from the Ministry of Finance, led by its Minister Ken Ofori-Atta; officials from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) led by the Governor, Dr. Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison and the Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah.
While in the US, the delegation will meet the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim and the IMF Managing Director, Christian Lagarde.
They would also attend the African Consultative Group Meetings with Christian Lagarde and President Jim Yong Kim.
Programme for Delegation
A major highlight for the delegation is the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ ‘Spotlight on Ghana’ event.
This is an event being organized for Ghana to examine the major political and economic trends in Ghana, as the new Akufo-Addo’s-led government charts its course.
The event will bring together policy makers, business leaders, analysts, opinion leaders from Ghana, United States and beyond.
They will discuss Ghana’s prospects for economic recovery, explore issues of governance and regional leadership and examine the multiple strands on US policy engagement.
Other meetings the delegation would attend include the G24 Deputies Meetings and the African Caucus Bureau.
The G24 Ministerial Meeting provides an opportunity for the G24 member countries to consider key areas in which international financial institutions and multilateral actions can effectively complement and support their policy efforts.
The delegation will also hold investor related meetings with holders of Ghana’s Bonds and institutional investors.
Also on the agenda are meetings with senior executives of ratings agencies- Standard and Poors, Fitch and Moodys.
Government Confident
Speaking to Citi Business News ahead of the meeting, Mr. Ofori-Atta maintained that the meeting provides an opportunity for government to return with lots of gains.
“The new economic team has momentum and confidence. We are in good shape, this is almost like an outdooring in the sense that we haven’t been to Washington D.C yet, so we are going to meet all the major policy makers at the IMF and the World Bank for them to also get a feel of who we are as team that is committed and competent to execute the programme,” he said.
Mr. Ofori-Atta said investors are putting their funds into the country because of renewed confidence in the country’s economy.
Market response
“The market response has been quite phenomenal. Investors have gone along with us in the last bond that we issued which really is a testament to the sense of momentum that we are building,” he stressed.
Highlighting some areas that may further boost Ghana’s ratings among investors, Mr. Ofori-Atta said government’s commitment and integrity is favorable in the international community.
“We intend to come back from Washington in a way that they understand the purposefulness of the IMF programme that we have. Our commitment and the integrity that we bring to it, I think that would lead to a better partnership. They want to be regarded as trusted advisors so it’s up to them to also make us believe that is what they are,” he added.
By Cephas Larbi