Ghana’s newly appointed finance minister, Mohammed Amin Adam, assured on Thursday (15 February) to maintain the course of its $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program while working towards completing the restructuring of its foreign debt before the December elections.
President Nana Akufo-Addo replaced Ken Ofori-Atta with Adam, a petroleum economist who previously served as minister of state at the finance ministry.
Ofori-Atta spearheaded the negotiations for the $3 billion IMF program. He, along with Adam, was pursuing relief on approximately $13 billion owed to private bondholders before his removal.
“There will not be any delays in the ongoing debt negotiations with bondholders because I have been part of the process,” Adam told Reuters in a telephone interview.
“The advisers remain the same and the targets have not changed,” he said, noting that he was involved in talks from the start.
“There will be no reversal on the IMF programme of fiscal consolidation. Revenue mobilisation will be aggressive, backed by new reforms at the Ghana Revenue Authority,” Adam said.
He also said spending would be efficient and directly benefit Ghanaians.
“I am a pro-reform person,” Adam said. “And therefore strongly support the structural benchmarks under the IMF programme”.
The new minister has garnered support from the IMF.
Last month, the World Bank board greenlit $300 million for Ghana following an agreement to restructure $5.4 billion of loans with its official creditors.
Ghana is set to receive a three-part, $900 million Development Policy Operation loan from the World Bank. Adam mentioned in an earlier interview with a local radio station on Thursday that negotiations for the next disbursement were on the horizon.