IMF country rep sheds light on Ghana’s programme

 Theo Yartey (TY): Has the country now satisfied all the requirements to get a programme following the granting of financial assurances from the official creditor committee?

Since the government requested IMF financial support in early July 2022, the IMF team and the Ghanaian authorities have been discussing expeditiously about a set of policies and reforms that could be supported by an IMF arrangement?

Leandro Medina (LM): Last December, the Ghanaian authorities and IMF staff reached agreement on these policies and reforms and on the path towards approval of the programme by the IMF Executive Board.

For this to happen, the government had to launch its economic reforms with a number of key actions; and sufficient progress had to be made to ensure debt would be put on a sustainable path and enough external financing would be generated for the programme.

With Ghana’s Official Creditor Committee under the G20 Common Framework having been recently formed and having offered the necessary financing assurances, these requirements were met.

So last Wednesday, the programme request was presented to and approved by the IMF Executive Board.

A new $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement is now in place. And the first disbursement, equivalent of roughly $600 million, has hit Ghana’s coffers.

TY: What are the key characteristics of this particular IMF programme?