IMF negotiations begin today
Negotiations for an enhanced domestic programme (EDP) for Ghana after the country applied for bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are scheduled to begin today, Monday, September 26.
The Mission from IMF led by Stéphane Roudet arrived in Ghana over the weekend for the discussions to begin.
Ghana’s team will be led by Finance Minister Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta.
The IMF Mission will be in the country for the next two weeks with the discussions scheduled to end on Friday, October 7.
The EDP Ghana is seeking is to restore macro-economic stability and debt sustainability.
The IMF has assured that the $3-billion deal will be sealed by year-end.
In a closed-door meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo earlier this month, on the sidelines of the Africa Adaptation Summit in Rotterdam, Netherlands, IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told him “we understand the urgency, and we will move as quickly as possible”.
“We have started very constructive discussions already and to the people of Ghana, like everybody on this planet, you have been hurt by exogenous shocks,” she said.
The Mission is expected to meet major stakeholders including officials from the Bank of Ghana, Finance Ministry, industry and others in the next two weeks.
A team led by Carlo Sdralevich was in the country in July to engage this same stakeholders on the perfect deal for Ghana.
The team concluded thus:
“Ghana is facing a challenging economic and social situation amid an increasingly difficult global environment. The fiscal and debt situation has severely worsened following the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, investors’ concerns have triggered credit rating downgrades, capital outflows, loss of external market access, and rising domestic borrowing costs.
“In addition, 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 maneuver. These adverse developments have contributed to slowing economic growth, accumulation of unpaid bills, a large exchange rate depreciation, and a surge in inflation.”
source:3news
