December 13, 2022 may be marked as early christmas-gift day as the government of Ghana and the IMF reach a $ 3 billion Staff-Level Agreement. (Three-year Extended Credit Facility)
The IMF team spearheaded by Mr. Stéphane Roudet, Mission Chief for Ghana, prior to this announcement of the agreement had visited Accra December 1 – 13, 2022, to discuss with the Ghanaian authorities, IMF support for their policy and reform plans.
Mr. Roudet issued the statements below at the end of the mission.
I am pleased to announce that the IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the Ghanaian authorities on a three-year program supported by an arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in the amount of SDR 2.242 billion or about US$3 billion. The economic program aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while laying the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth. The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF Management and Executive Board approval and receipt of the necessary financing assurances by Ghana’s partners and creditors.
The Ghanaian authorities have committed to a wide-ranging economic reform program, which builds on the government’s Post-COVID-19 Program for Economic Growth (PC-PEG) and tackles the deep challenges facing the country.
Key reforms aim to ensure the sustainability of public finances while protecting the vulnerable. The fiscal strategy relies on frontloaded measures to increase domestic resource mobilization and streamline expenditure. In addition, the authorities have committed to strengthening social safety nets, including reinforcing the existing targeted cash-transfer program for vulnerable households and improving the coverage and efficiency of social spending.
Structural reforms will be introduced to underpin the fiscal strategy and ensure a durable consolidation. These include developing a medium-term plan to generate additional revenue and advancing reforms to bolster tax compliance. This will help create space for growth-enhancing measures and social spending. Efforts will also be made to strengthen public expenditure commitment controls, improve fiscal transparency (including the reporting and monitoring of arrears), improve the management of public enterprises, and tackle structural challenges in the energy and cocoa sectors. The authorities are also committed to further bolstering governance and accountability.
To support the objective of restoring public debt sustainability, the authorities have announced a comprehensive debt restructuring. Sufficient assurances and progress on this front will be needed before the proposed Fund-supported program can be presented to the IMF Executive Board for approval.
Reducing inflation, enhancing resilience to external shocks, and improving market confidence are also important program priorities. Accordingly, the Bank of Ghana will continue to strengthen its monetary policy framework and promote exchange rate flexibility to rebuild external buffers. As part of the authorities’ debt strategy, a domestic debt exchange has been launched. The authorities are committed to taking the necessary mitigation measures to ensure financial sector stability is preserved.
IMF staff held meetings with Vice President Bawumia, Finance Minister Ofori-Atta, and Bank of Ghana Governor Addison, and their teams, as well as representatives from various government agencies. The IMF team has also continued to engage with other stakeholders. Staff would like to express their gratitude to the Ghanaian authorities, Parliament’s Finance Committee and all the private sector, trade union, and civil society representatives for their open and constructive engagement over the past few months.
This Agreement made between IMF and Ghana on economic policies and reforms to is to be supported by a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of about US$3 billion.
Details and Objectives
- Launch of Comprehensive Debt Operation – this is to support the objective of restoring public debt sustainability.
- Authorities’ Strong Reform Program – this serves to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while protecting the vulnerable, preserving financial stability, and laying the foundation for strong and inclusive recovery.
- Frontloaded Fiscal Consolidation and Measures – this is to reduce inflation and rebuild external buffers, the program envisages wide-ranging reforms to address structural weaknesses and enhance resilience to shocks.
Many Ghanaians have expressed relief and opined that this is a sign of good days to come as the market has already responded positively.
Others have also attributed the recent appreciation of the Cedi to the IMF imminent assistance to salvaging the Ghanaian economy from total collapse.
