Adnan Adams Mohammed
The government will open its books in September for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its first review, after it successfully secured a US$3.0 billion Balance of Payment Support program for the next three years.
The first review will be due in two months away which will secure Ghana another US$600 million (second tranche of support) when successful to secure a Staff-Level Agreement.
The second tranche is based on some conditions that government must satisfy after an assessment by the Fund’s Visiting Staff. However, the finance minister is very optimistic of securing an agreement with the visiting staffs.
“We had an IMF Staff visit about three weeks ago which went very well and we’re expecting that review in September [2023]”, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, speaking to Journalists at the Ghana Trade Fair Redevelopment Project Investor Conference in Accra, last week, said.
Mr. Ofori-Atta hinted that the country is getting back some confidence in the economy after many efforts in meeting the IMF conditionalities.
“Between cabinet and parliament, so far we’ve gone through the qualitative performance criteria. So we expect that the review will go well in September [2023] to get a Staff-Level Agreement. We’ll go to the Board in November [2023] and we’re sure we can get it”, he explained.
He is optimistic that the country will recover swiftly, adding “God always put the country through and with the help of all, speaking the same language, managing our investors and bondholders well, we will get there”.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister has described as a difficult period, getting individual bondholders to suspend their intended picketing the Finance Ministry.
He, therefore, called for some sacrifice from the private sector in such a period since the country is now getting out of its challenges.
“I think the technical people are meeting and the Lord has been faithful so far. But I also think we as Ghanaians must appreciate that these are not normal times and with where we were last year and now, clearly, we should have some excitement for the future”.
