Ghana is on track to receive second tranche of IMF bailout facility – Finance Minister

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has stated that the country is on track to receive the second tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout money by the end of the year to support the economy.

He also said the government was also working to secure about $300 million from the World Bank and was hopeful the government would raise a total of $1 billion   before the end of the year to support government’s Balance of Payment (BOP) operations.

Mr Ofori-Atta stated this at the 3rd Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Breakfast meeting in Accra yesterday, said Ghana would have its first review by the end of September.

According to him, Ghana had done well and was working assiduously to meet all the quantitative indicators under the IMF Extended Credit Facility Programme.

“We are ready for the mission that comes at the end of September so that we can try and get the staff level agreement, while the mission is here, and then we go to the board in November for the release of the 2nd tranche which will be $600 million. In addition to that, there are certain things we need to do with the World Bank so that we can get our DPO, which will be another $300 million. I believe that we are on course to maybe get a billion dollars to support Bank of Ghana’s balance of payment issues,” he stated.

Ghana signed for an Extended Credit Facility of $3billion with the IMF last year for BOP support and to ensure macroeconomic stability.

The IMF credit support is to help the government to implement its Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), which aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability and promote inclusive growth.

The first tranche of $600 million was released last year after the Executive Board of the IMF approved Ghana’s programme.

Mr Ofori-Atta said Ghana had successfully completed the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, saying “it was a difficult process.”

He said the DDEP was difficult but necessary to prove to Ghana’s external creditors that the “Ghana itself was ready to burden share.”

Touching on the programme, he said, it was not only to discuss the challenges Ghana faced, but also highlight the country’s  determination to work alongside stakeholders to ensure the path of economic recovery was  better served.

BY KINGSLEY ASARE