Dr. Theo Acheampong, an economist, has predicted that the administration will not be able to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before the year is up.
He blamed the impossibility of the December deadline to the nation’s mounting debt in the face of its economic difficulties.
The economist asserted during an appearance on Citi TV’s Big Issues program, which GhanaWeb was watching, that the government must first restructure its debt before concluding the agreement with the Bretton Woods institution.
Dr. Theo Acheampong argued that the time frame for this exercise was too short and that Ghana may realistically finalize its agreement with the IMF by the first quarter of 2023.
“The most important thing is how to bring your creditors together to restructure the debt. That is what could potentially actually extend the duration of the engagement exercise and that then means that the December timelines that we were looking at to conclude the IMF deal may actually slip a little bit,” he said,
“From where I sit, we only have barely three months to conclude all of this. [debt sustainability analysis] and given past experience, I struggle to see how we will conclude the debt sustainability analysis and then sit down with the creditors and agree on some sort of debt restructuring package and eventually goes to the IMF board for approval and the programme itself signed off. I think we are looking probably in about 6 months time period which may go into first quarter of next year,” the economist added.
On September 5, 2022, the Managing Director of IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, stated that a deal between Ghana and the IMF should be reached and finalized before the end of the year.
In a closed-door meeting with the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, IMF boss said, “we understand the urgency, and we will move as quickly as possible.”
She reiterated the determination of the Fund to work with the Government of Ghana and ensure that there is an agreement before the end of the year.
The IMF programme, government said, is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and safeguarding debt sustainability among many others.
Meanwhile, Ghana is targeting an amount of $3 billion over three years from the IMF once an agreement on a programme is reached.
The new amount requested as a loan is double the government’s initial target of $1.5 billion.