Ghana will commence formal engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support on economic program put together by the Government of Ghana.
The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo on July 1, 2022 directed the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to open formal talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for bailout.
A statement issued by the Information Ministry today, Friday, July 1, 2022 read;
“The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has authorized Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to commence formal engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), inviting the Fund to support an economic program put together by the Government of Ghana.”
“This follows a telephone conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Miss Kristalina Georgievs, conveying Ghana’s decision to engage with the Fund,”
The Information Ministry explained that this decision was taken at a meeting on June 30, 2022.
“The engagement with the IMF will seek to provide balance of payment support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana’s build back in the face of challenges induced by the Covid-19 pandemic and, recently, the Russia Ukraine crises.”
Ghana has until now refused to seek IMF support to rescue an economy crippled by the pandemic, rampant inflation and a depreciating currency, despite analysts warning it is close to a debt crisis.
The government has made several attemps to rescue the economy including the introduction of the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy) to shore up enough revenue to salvage the worsening economic conditions but that has not yielded any positive results.
A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, earlier in the week announced that E-levy had performed poorly as it has generated only 10% of targeted revenue.
Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko shared the statement from the Information Ministry via his official twitter handle as below;
