THE MINISTRY of Finance and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) have constituted a five-member committee to lead extensive stakeholder engagements across all the key segments of the financial sector as part of the programme to secure a potential US$3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The committee, which is made up of prominent financial services professionals, is chaired by Albert Essien, a former Chief Executive Officer of the Ecobank Group.
Simon Dornoo, a former Managing Director of GCB Bank, will serve as the Vice Chairman of the committee.
Other members are Alex Asiedu, a capital market expert; Mabel Nyarkoa Porbley, an insurance expert; and Peter Enti, a business investment advisory expert.
The Finance Ministry, in a statement released on Tuesday, said the committee would be consultative, and would among other things, lead discussions with the financial services industry and other stakeholders to provide industry-wide inputs.
According to the statement, the committee members are expected to transmit industry concerns on debt management strategy to the Finance Ministry and the BoG.
“The expectations and goals are to ensure orderliness and confidence in the Government’s ongoing negotiations with the IMF,” the statement further explained.
It said a similar engagement would be undertaken with the country’s external bondholders, noting, “The stability of the domestic financial ecosystem is critical to a successful IMF-supported economic programme and the Government will take all necessary steps to protect the sector as we have done in the past.”
“We need the support and trust of all Ghanaians to ensure that a historic arrangement is reached with the IMF,” the statement said.
It pointed out that the government was confident that such engagement and collaboration would enable the country to recover very quickly and strongly from its current macroeconomic challenges.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu