IMF confirms Ghana visit

A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected in the country early next month to begin talks on helping salvage the ailing economy, Mr. Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has confirmed.
A formal request was tabled by Ghana on Friday, August 8. This was formally acknowleged by the IMF who said:
“Today, IMF Management received a formal request from the Ghanaian authorities to initiate discussions on an economic program that could be supported by the IMF. The Fund stands ready to help Ghana address the current economic challenges it is facing.
We expect to send an IMF team to Ghana in early September to initiate discussions on a program.”
President John Mahama has said that approaching the IMF was not necessarily about getting funds, but about seeking support from Bretton Woods, a monetary management system, for the country’s home-grown economic recovery programme.
However, he said, if the discussion to be entered into with the Fund resulted in any money, the government would welcome it.
Ghana is going through one of the most difficult economic times in its history, with the national currency plummeting about 40 per cent against the dollar this year.
President Mahama expressed the hope that the IMF’s assistance would help build investor confidence in the country.