Ghana hoping for IMF agreement by next week: Report

According to the finance ministry of Ghana, the economic recovery efforts of the country could be delayed and complicated if a visiting team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not agree with a negotiation of the relief package. 

Ghana is hoping for an IMF agreement by next week as the IMF team is set to visit the country. Ghana aims to relieve its debt distress and overcome its worst economic crisis with the help of the IMF relief package. The country is in talks for up to $3 billion in credit from the IMF to help shore up its public finances. The officials in Ghana hope to secure a staff-level agreement next week. 

Recently, Ghana asked investors to exchange around $9 billion in domestic debt for new bonds. Ghana’s Finance Minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta said the debt exchange was important to secure IMF support.

In November, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo fired the government’s junior finance minister, Charles Adu Boahen, over a case related to corruption. 

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The country is suffering from the worst economic crisis. The Ghanaian cedi (currency of Ghana) has plummeted more than 40 per cent this year. Consumer inflation also hit 40.4 per cent in October.

In November, protests erupted in Ghana’s capital Accra over the economic crisis. More than 1,000 protesters called for the resignation of Nana Akufo-Addo. In Ghana, around a quarter of the population lives on less than $2.15 per day, according to the World Bank.

This week, Ghana approved the proposed 2023 budget. Reportedly, Ghana’s debt amounts to more than 100 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). 

Recently, the IMF said that poor countries need nearly $500 billion in external financing through 2026.