Julie Kozack
Director of Communication at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Julie Kozack, has indicated that Ghana could receive the third tranche of $360 million by the end of this month.
Ms Kozack, who gave the assurance at a meeting with the press on June 6, noted, “Our aim is to bring the review to the IMF’s Executive Board for approval before the end of June. This would give Ghana access to $360 million in financing, bringing the total to about $1.6 billion in disbursements since May of 2023.”
She stated that the country’s “strong policy and reform efforts under the three-year programme are bearing fruit and signs of economic stabilisation are emerging. For example, growth in 2023 was higher than we had initially envisaged.”
The IMF added that managers of Ghana’s economy were making good progress on her comprehensive debt restructuring. In January 2024, the government reached an agreement in principle with its official bilateral creditors after the domestic debt exchange programme was completed last year, as Ghana contacted her external private creditors to seek their support.
The IMF said, “at each review, including this one, that is in progress, the IMF does provide not only a full update of the economic situation and the macroeconomic projections, but also the Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA).
The latest DSA will be published with the Staff Report after the Board considers the second review of the programme. And of course, also just to reiterate that it is now important for the government to continue to make progress, as it has been doing with its creditors, to ultimately restore debt sustainability for the country.”
It also continued that the steadfast and reform implementation would be crucial to fully and durably restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability in Ghana adding that “government has committed to continue implementing the programme as envisaged to ensure sustainable growth and support poverty reduction.”
Ghana’s total public debt hit GH¢658.6 billion before the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) was put in place.
By Samuel Boadi