The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed satisfaction with Ghana’s progress in economic recovery under the fund’s Extended Credit Facility Programme widely known as bailout.
The fund says Ghana has made very impressive strides under the programme hence earning praise from the Bretton Woods Institution.
Director of Communications at the IMF, Julie Kozack at a news conference on Friday, November 22, 2024, in Washington DC maintained that Ghana has made significant progress in the areas of economic growth which exceeded expectations, inflation, external and domestic debt restructuring as well as fiscal consolidation.
Addressing the media, Julie Kozack noted that the “programme performance has been good. There has been in particular remarkable progress on debt restructuring. Economic growth in the first half of 2024 exceeded our expectations, exceeded our projections, inflation has declined and the fiscal and external positions have shown marked improvement.”
Despite the gains recorded so far, the Fund cautioned that the journey is far from over. The IMF is therefore calling for a sustained commitment to fiscal discipline, structural reforms and macroeconomic stability.
This, it believes will ensure that the country does not slip back to the economic mess it encountered which triggered the bailout programme.
“Looking ahead, what will be important for Ghana will be continued implementation of the policy and reform agendas, especially given the difficult situation that many countries in the region and globally face. And it remains essential to fully restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability,” the IMF Director cautioned.
This favourable review means that Ghana is likely to unlock the third tranche of the $3 billion credit facility.
Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam had earlier expressed his optimism that the third tranche of the facility is likely to be disbursed to the country early in December. This, he believes will help stabilize the economy and support the cedi.
With this positive review, reports indicate that the IMF Board is likely to meet in early December to approve the $360 million tranche after the country has passed the third review of the programme.
