The Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has highlighted the positive reception of the country’s economic resilience programme from global financial leaders.
According to the minister, bilateral engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President Ajay Banga elicited favourable remarks about Ghana’s rebounding economy.
The Finance Minister indicated that the positive outlook and assurances garnered during these meetings have bolstered the confidence of Ghana’s external partners.
The IMF currently awaits disbursing of US$360million following the successful completion of the second review of the programme, once the government reaches an agreement with its official creditors.
The upbeat assessments from key multilateral institutions signal growing optimism about the country’s economic trajectory amid its reform efforts to restore macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability.
Speaking to the Ghanaian media in Washington DC, the minister noted that the measures adopted by government to restore macroeconomic stability and build resilience through the implementation of the PC-PEG under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in May 2023 were already yielding the desired results.
“These measures have delivered very favourable macroeconomic outcomes in just one year, these include: more than anticipated growth performance in GDP growth, with GDP ending 2023 at 2.9 percent compared to the original target of 1.5 percent and the revised target of 2.3 percent,’’ he said.
He noted that inflation was declining by 30.9 percentage points to 23.2 percent at the end of December 2023 after peaking at 54.1 percent in December 2022, and further added that good progress have been seen in inflation in 2024.
“We have seen good progress in inflation in 2024. Also, it maintained its rate of 23.2 percent in February 2024 but increased slightly to 25.8 percent in March 2024 due mainly to the base effect,” Dr. Adam said.
Other reliving outcomes of the programme, the minister acknowledged, included the relative stability of the cedi against the major trading currencies, improvement in the public debt trajectory as the debt to GDP ratio reduced to 71.4 percent of GDP at the end of 2023 from 73.5 percent of GDP at the end of 2022, and improvement in fiscal balances indicating a strong drive toward fiscal consolidation.
“The primary balance (on commitment basis), which is the fiscal anchor under the programme, improved from a deficit of 4.3 percent of GDP at the end of 2022 to a deficit of 0.3 percent of GDP at the end of 2023. The 2023 outturn was lower than the target deficit of 0.5 percent of GDP,” the minister said.
These impactful measures, as noted by the minister, were prominently featured in discussions with the IMF, World Bank Group and other bilateral meetings, garnering commendations from partners.
The Ghana delegation to Washington DC to attend the 2024 IMG/World Bank Spring Meetings under the theme ‘Vision to Impact’ included the Governor of the central bank, Dr. Ernest Addison.
The Minister of Finance, who is the chair of the Vulnerable 20 Group of Finance Ministers, hinted of the group’s discussion targeted at intensifying national and regional measures through climate prosperity plans.
The plans, according to the minister, were aimed at transforming the development trajectory of vulnerable economies into one that was capable of thriving despite challenges.
“The 2024 Spring 2024 Spring Meetings concluded with a strong reaffirmation of the V20’s commitment to intensify global engagement and collaboration. There was a strong push for the operationalisation of the Climate Vulnerable Forum’s (CVF) objectives through global initiatives like the Accra-Marrakech Agenda and the Bridgetown Initiative,” he underscored.
Ghana’s leadership of the V20 and the Climate Vulnerable Forum ends in May, when Barbados takes over as Chair.
Dr. Adam disclosed that an initial meeting had been held with Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, to ensure seamless transition of leadership with both sides looking at a day in June 2024 for the official handover ceremony.
