President Akufo-Addo has stated that Ghana’s decision to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is proving beneficial.
He noted that the conditions that led to Ghana entering the program are steadily improving, and the country is committed to fulfilling the program’s requirements.
The president made these remarks during a meeting with the head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, in Accra on Sunday.
“The decision we made in July 2022 to come and seek your support for the difficult economic circumstances that we had, as far as I am concerned, is a decision that already has paid off.
“It has paid off in terms of a clear turnaround that we are seeing in our economy,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
He also emphasized that Ghana has greatly benefited from its decision to engage with the IMF.
“The dire circumstances in which we were, at the time that, we took that very difficult decision and where we are today, is a very clear testimony that our decision to seek your support is a decision that was correct, and we have had some benefits from it,” he added.
During the meeting, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva noted that investor confidence in Ghana’s economy is slowly being restored.
In 2023, Ghana secured a $3 billion IMF extended credit facility (ECF) after then Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, was authorized by President Akufo-Addo on July 1, 2022, to commence formal negotiations with the IMF to secure a balance of payment support and resolve Ghana’s economic crisis impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Ghana’s three-year-IMF programme is in its first year of implementation, with the nation so far, receiving a total of $1.2 billion from the IMF in two payment tranches of $600 million each.
It is expected that during Madam Georgieva’s stay in Ghana, the IMF and the government officials will be seeking ways through which they can consolidate collaboration to see Ghana through her current programme with the Fund.