Carlo Sdralevich, who led the team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded preliminary discussions and assessments of Ghana’s economic situation.
IMF team arrived in Ghana on July 6, 2022, after an invitation from the government to seek their support.
A press release from the Bretton Woods institution on Wednesday, 13 July said it was committed to assisting the West African country.
“We reaffirm our commitment to support Ghana at this difficult time, consistent with the IMF’s policies.”
According to the IMF staff, they will continue to monitor the economic and social situation in Ghana closely and engage in the coming weeks with the authorities on the formulation of their Enhanced Domestic Program.
The IMF also outlined some of the challenging situations in which Ghana finds itself.
- Ghana is facing a challenging economic and social situation amid an increasingly difficult global environment.
- The fiscal and debt situation of Ghana has severely worsened following the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Investors’ concerns have triggered credit rating downgrades, capital outflows, loss of external market access, and rising domestic borrowing costs.
- The IMF opined further that the global economic shock caused by the war in Ukraine is hitting Ghana at a time when the country is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic shock and with limited room for manoeuvre.
The IMF is of the view that the above developments have contributed strongly to slowing economic growth, accumulation of unpaid bills, a large exchange rate depreciation, and a surge in inflation.
The IMF team that visited Ghana, met with Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Finance Minister Ofori-Atta, and Governor Addison of the Bank of Ghana.
The team also met with the Parliament’s Finance Committee, civil society organizations, and development partners, including UNICEF and the World Bank during its engagement.
Recall, ZNewsgh.com previously reported that, in a press statement signed by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said a telephone chat between the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva and Ghana’s President, conveyed the government’s decision to engage the Fund.
“The President of the Republic, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has authorized Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to commence formal engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), inviting the Fund to support an economic programme put together by the Government of Ghana”.
“This follows a telephone conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Krisalina Georgivia, conveying Ghana’s decision to engage the Fund,” part of the statement read.
This information was announced by the Ministry of Information as contained in the press release dated Friday, July 1, 2022.
The decision was made after the cabinet backed the government’s decision to pursue an economic programme from the Fund at a meeting.
