By Ayuureyisiya Kapini Atafori
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provisionally agreed to provide a $4.5 billion support programme for Bangladesh on 9th November this year.
In a statement, the Washington-based IMF said a “staff-level agreement” had been reached for a 42-month arrangement, including about $3.2 billion from its Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF), in addition to about $1.3 billion from its new Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
The IMF continued: “The objectives of Bangladesh’s new Fund-supported program are to preserve macroeconomic stability and support strong, inclusive, and green growth, while protecting the vulnerable.”
The population of Bangladesh is 168,542,513 as of 9th November, 2022, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations (UN) data. The country had a GDP of $416.3 billion in 2021, according to the World Bank, a sister international financial institution of the IMF.
As the South Asian country is looking forward to receive the much-needed financial relief from the Bretton Woods behemoth, Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is negotiating to get a $3 billion IMF bailout before the end of this year to support the country’s 2023 budget.
With a GDP of $77.59 billion in 2021, the population of Ghana is 32,594,925 as of 8th November, 2022, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest UN data.
A key prerequisite for a bailout programme is confirmation that Ghana’s debt is on a sustainable path, according to a press release issued by the Ministry for Finance in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, on 26th September, 2022. That will require a comprehensive Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), which is currently ongoing.
The release stated that the government was putting together a comprehensive post Covid-19 economic programme which would form the basis for the IMF negotiations. The programme seeks to establish a macro-fiscal path that ensures debt sustainability and macro-economic stability underpinned by key structural reforms and social protection policies.
The Ghana government’s negotiations with respect to the IMF-supported programme is continuing, and the Ministry is optimistic about making progress in discussions. The release said the government remains committed, and will continue to engage all stakeholders from the public and private sectors actively in a clear and transparent manner as it seeks to fast-track the process.
But for Ghana to reach a deal with the IMF before the close of this year, it depends on how soon a credible domestic recovery program will be drawn up.
According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, the West African nation cannot afford lengthy negotiations that will go pass December this year. “Negotiations will be fast-tracked to ensure that key aspects of the program are reflected in the 2023 annual budget statement in November 2022,” he said at a press briefing in October in Accra.
Source: Reuters, Ghana’s Ministry for Finance press release, and www.theafricareport.com
