Ghana’s programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be reviewed every six months before the additional disbursements are made to government, Resident Representative of the IMF in Ghana, Dr. Leandro Medina has said.
According to him, after the periodic review, the IMF Staff are required to submit a report to the Executive Board for approval for the next disbursement.
Dr. Medina disclosed this on a yet to be aired interview on PM Express Business Edition with host, George Wiafe on May 25, 2023.
He noted that the IMF is looking forward to complete the first review in November 2023.
On the government’s side, the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam said Ghana would get about $1.2 billion by the end of 2023.
Ghana got its three-year economic programme approved by the Executive Board of the IMF on May 17, 2023.
Dr. Medina pointed out that Ghana’s programme officially took off when the Staff Level Agreement was reached with the country.
He confirmed that there will be an IMF Mission visit in June 2023 as part of the programme review for some country engagement.
Describing Ghana’s programme as a robust one, Dr. Medina was hopeful it will help bring the economy back on a strong footing.
According him, the programme is based on government’s post covid-19 programme for economic growth.
“It will also seek to deal with debt sustainability issues, including wide-ranging reforms to build resilience and lay the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth”, he said.
“I believed that Ghanaians are looking forward to the programme bringing inflation down, and stabilizing the current economic situation and hopeful that will happen”, he added.
Addressing concerns of the impact on the vulnerable, Dr. Medina said government is expected to undertake some social intervention programme, to cushion the poor and vulnerable in society,
“The benefits of LEAP in the budget are being doubled as well as funding to the School Feeding Programme to help with the associated shocks of the reforms” Dr. Medina added.
Source: Myjoyonline
