The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified three critical issues confronting the implementation of Ghana’s US$3 billion IMF-supported programme, despite describing overall performance as “broadly satisfactory.”
The Fund said the key challenges relate to the operationalisation of the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS), reforms to earmarked funds, and delays associated with updating the beneficiary registry for the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and reforming the asset declaration regime.
According to an IMF spokesperson, the implementation of ITAS had been rephased into three stages due to technical and operational challenges, while authorities opted for an alternative approach to reforming earmarked funds.
The spokesperson disclosed this following the IMF Executive Board’s approval of Ghana’s fifth review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.
Ghana’s three-year ECF programme, approved in May 2023, aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, while implementing reforms to strengthen resilience and lay the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth.
With the completion of the fifth review on Wednesday, December 17, Ghana has received an immediate disbursement of about US$385 million, bringing total disbursements under the programme to approximately US$2.8 billion.
Responding to questions on programme implementation, the IMF spokesperson said that out of 11 structural benchmarks for the current review, four were met, two were implemented with delays, one was completed as a prior action, and four were missed.
Nonetheless, the Fund noted that Ghana met all end-June 2025 performance criteria, citing the audit of 2024 payables, taxpayer data cleaning, and the submission of the 2026 Budget in line with programme objectives as key reforms achieved under the fifth review.
The IMF attributed the challenges facing the three complex structural reforms to legal, technical and institutional constraints, and underscored the need for continued reforms to safeguard macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, while addressing longstanding structural vulnerabilities.
In a statement following the completion of the review, the IMF’s Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Bo Li, commended Ghanaian authorities for demonstrating strong programme ownership, particularly through decisive corrective actions taken after policy slippages in 2024.
He said the reforms, together with structural measures, had supported a stronger-than-expected recovery in economic growth, brought inflation within the Bank of Ghana’s target range, and boosted foreign reserve accumulation.
Mr. Bo Li stressed that sustaining fiscal discipline would require stronger revenue administration, improved public financial management, and enhanced oversight of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), which continue to pose significant fiscal risks.
He also called for sustained efforts to improve transparency and oversight, especially in relation to public disclosure requirements and the management of SOEs in the gold, cocoa and energy sectors.
According to him, ambitious structural reforms aimed at improving the business environment, strengthening governance and enhancing transparency remain critical to boosting Ghana’s economic potential and supporting sustainable job creation.
Ghana’s ECF arrangement is anchored in the Government’s Post-COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), introduced at a time when external shocks had worsened existing fiscal and debt vulnerabilities, leading to loss of access to international capital markets and constrained domestic financing.
The IMF noted that Ghana’s IMF-supported reforms were yielding results, with economic growth exceeding expectations through September 2025, driven largely by strong performance in the services and agriculture sectors.
