Finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta
ACCRA, Dec 14 (NNN-GNA) — The Ghana Government has announced a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a $3 billion loan deal.
The agreement, reached on the back of a record 5 months of intense negotiations between the International Monetary Fund and the Government of Ghana, will help stabilize the country’s ailing economy.
Announcing the agreement at a joint press conference between the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), and the IMF, Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta noted that the deal, subject to approval by the Executive Board of the Fund, will help government reboot the economy, largely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes for almost 6 months since when Government formally announced its intention to engage the IMF for an IMF-supported programme, to enable us to reach this Staff Level Agreement (SLA) today which paves the way for the IMF’s Management and Executive Board to approve Ghana’s programme request early next year,” Ofori-Atta said.
He said the government will make sure it sticks to the strong reform programme under the Fund to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while preserving financial stability and laying the foundation for strong and inclusive recovery.
The Minister for Finance outlined 6 key deliverables that government will be working on over the period, including preparation of the Post-Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth; a medium-term macroeconomic framework; Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) and Debt Management Strategy; structural reforms to address structural bottlenecks, improve competitiveness and promote efficiency and effectiveness; a memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP); and an agreement on prior actions which are expected to be completed before the Fund goes to the Board.
On his part, the Fund’s Mission Chief to Ghana, Stéphane Roudet, expressed his delight at the fast completion of the staff-level agreement.
He noted the significant economic challenges that have impacted the country’s fiscals, stressing the Fund’s willingness to assist the government in its fiscal consolidation efforts, and efforts to implement measures to address the depreciation of the local currency and build back the economy. — NNN-GNA
