A staff-level agreement has been reached between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ghana for a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility of about US$ 3 billion.
The arrangement aimed to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability in the struggling West African country, the Fund said.
Commenting on the development, Stéphane Roudet, IMF Mission Chief for Ghana said: “The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF Management and Executive Board approval and receipt of the necessary financing assurances by Ghana’s partners and creditors.”
He said the Ghanaian authorities have committed to a wide-ranging economic reform program, which builds on the government’s Post-COVID-19 Program for Economic Growth (PC-PEG) and tackles the deep challenges facing the country.
“Key reforms aim to ensure the sustainability of public finances while protecting the vulnerable. The fiscal strategy relies on frontloaded measures to increase domestic resource mobilization and streamline expenditure. In addition, the authorities have committed to strengthening social safety nets, including reinforcing the existing targeted cash-transfer program for vulnerable households and improving the coverage and efficiency of social spending,” he stated.
The Ghanaian authorities are expected to introduce structural reforms to underpin the fiscal strategy and ensure a durable consolidation.
“These include developing a medium-term plan to generate additional revenue and advancing reforms to bolster tax compliance. This will help create space for growth-enhancing measures and social spending. Efforts will also be made to strengthen public expenditure commitment controls, improve fiscal transparency (including the reporting and monitoring of arrears), improve the management of public enterprises, and tackle structural challenges in the energy and cocoa sectors. The authorities are also committed to further bolstering governance and accountability,” Roudet said.
To support the objective of restoring public debt sustainability, the Ghanaian authorities have announced a comprehensive debt restructuring. “Sufficient assurances and progress on this front will be needed before the proposed Fund-supported program can be presented to the IMF Executive Board for approval,” he stated.
IMF staff held meetings with Vice President Bawumia, Finance Minister Ofori-Atta, and Bank of Ghana Governor Addison, and their teams, as well as representatives from various government agencies.
The IMF team has also continued to engage with other stakeholders. Staff would like to express their gratitude to the Ghanaian authorities, Parliament’s Finance Committee and all the private sector, trade union, and civil society representatives for their open and constructive engagement over the past few months.
