Dr. Natalia Koliadina, IMF representative to Ghana
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended Ghana for reducing its debt-to-GDP for the first time in many years.
The country has been recording high debt-to-GDP over the years, but the 2017 International Monetary Fund (IMF) country figures showed a decline from 9.3 percent of GDP in 2016 to six percent in 2017.
“Last year was the first time government was able to report a primary surplus, with debt-to-GDP declining,” said Dr Natalia Koliadina, IMF representative to Ghana.
“So we will definitely support the objective of moving ‘Ghana Beyond Aid, development needs very significant infrastructure, skilled labour so that is the reason why we are supporting government in revenue mobilization effort.”
Dr Koliadina disclosed this at the high-level executive panel discussion at the 3rd edition of the Ghana Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Summit in Accra.
The two-day event, officially opened by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, brought together CEOs to share ideas to make the economy work.
Touching on the topic, ‘Leadership, Innovation and Investment for Business and Economic Transformation,’ Dr Koliadina disclosed that a lot has been done by the current government in the fight against corruption to improve governance.
“In the first year in office, we have already seen that much has been done in terms of the overpaid bills and now measures are being taken in this direction,” she said.
The IMF Country lead observed that “it’s up to the whole nation to make this happen. I really see a bright future for Ghana where micro-economic stability is maintained over a long time.”
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chief Executive Officers Network Ghana Limited, Ernest De-Graft Egyir, said the two-day event would put the spotlight on leadership in Ghana.
“This is critical to the efforts of the country’s private sector,” he added.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri