A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Stéphane Roudet, Head of Mission for Ghana, will arrive in Accra tomorrow September 26, 2022 and will continue discussions with the government on policies and reforms that could be supported by a IMF loan.
The team will also engage with other stakeholders including the Bank of Ghana, Parliament, business associations and civil society group during the visit.
Discussions with the government and other stakeholders will end on October 7, 2022.
This follows the downgrading of Ghana’s credit to an even more undesirable status by rating agency Fitch.
Fitch has downgraded Ghana’s long-term local and foreign currency (IDR) issuer default ratings to ‘CC’, from ‘CCC’.
The downgrade, he said, reflected the heightened likelihood that Ghana would pursue debt restructuring given growing financial strains, soaring interest costs on domestic debt and a prolonged lack of financing. access to Eurobond markets.
IMF Reaffirms Commitment to Support Ghana in Difficult Times
In July 2022, a team of IMF staff led by Carlo Sdralevich visited Accra to assess the current economic situation and discuss the outlines of the government’s enhanced national program that could be supported by an IMF loan agreement.
The IMF team met with Vice President Bawumia, Finance Minister Ofori-Atta and Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison. The team also met with the parliamentary finance committee, civil society organizations and development partners, including UNICEF and the World Bank, to discuss social spending.
At the end of the meeting, he reaffirmed his commitment to support Ghana in this difficult period, in accordance with his policy.
“Ghana faces a difficult economic and social situation in an increasingly challenging global environment. The fiscal and debt situation has seriously deteriorated following the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, investor concerns led to credit rating downgrades, capital outflows, loss of access to external markets and increased domestic borrowing costs.
“Additionally, the global economic shock caused by the war in Ukraine is hitting Ghana at a time when the country is still recovering from the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic and with limited policy space. These adverse developments have contributed to slowing economic growth, the accumulation of unpaid bills, a sharp depreciation of the exchange rate and a spike in inflation,” he said.
He further said he had held initial discussions on a comprehensive reform package aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and anchoring debt sustainability, adding that the team had made progress in assessing the situation. economy and the identification of short-term political priorities.
Discussions focused on improving fiscal balances in a sustainable manner while protecting the vulnerable and poor; ensuring the credibility of monetary policy and exchange rate regimes; preserve the stability of the financial sector; and designing reforms to boost growth, create jobs and strengthen governance.
He concluded that IMF staff will continue to closely monitor the economic and social situation and will engage in the coming weeks with the authorities on the formulation of their enhanced domestic program which could be supported by an IMF agreement and with a broad stakeholder consultation.
