An advisor to the governor of the central bank, Stephen Opata, has stressed that the Bank of Ghana has not given the government any kind of financing support for the fiscal year 2023.
He claims that the Bank of Ghana’s decision will likely remain in effect till the present IMF program expires. He pointed out that it is a requirement of Ghana’s program with the Fund.
Stephen Opata explained the action to reporters at a news conference on August 2, 2023, saying it is in line with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for zero financing that the BoG and the government of Ghana signed.
“The effort to rebuild equity has started following the signing of the MoU on zero financing to government but we recognize that maybe at some if government can do something about capital injection but probably this is not the time for that…instead we should focus on the three-year reforms under the IMF programme,” Mr Opata said.
Before securing its 17th IMF deal, the Central Bank Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, stated that both the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance had committed to completely financing the budget in 2023 and beyond.
This decision is in line with prudent macroeconomic policies aimed at initiating a disinflation path and reducing the monetary policy rate.
Speaking at the 60th-anniversary launch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), Dr. Ernest Addison emphasized that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) also aims to strengthen the country’s reserve buffers to cover at least 3 months of imports by the end of 2025.