The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a statement late Friday that its executive board has approved the immediate disbursement of 600 million U.S. dollars to the government of Ghana as part of the financing of the ongoing economic reform program.
The disbursement is the second tranche of the IMF financing of the West African country’s ongoing economic reforms.
The disbursement came after the IMF executive board completed the first review of Ghana’s 36-month arrangement, backed by a 3-billion-dollar loan from the IMF.
A week earlier, Ghana had clinched a deal with its official creditors committee to restructure parts of its external debts, a critical requirement to unlock the second tranche of IMF funding.
“Ghana’s performance under the program has been strong. All the quantitative performance criteria for the first review and almost all indicative targets and structural benchmarks are on track,” the IMF said.
It added, “Ghana’s reform efforts are bearing fruit, and signs of economic stabilization are emerging. Growth in 2023 has proven resilient, inflation has declined, and the fiscal and external positions have improved.”
IMF mission chief for Ghana, Stéphane Roudet, said in a joint press briefing with the Ghanaian authorities after the announcement that the assessment has remained positive, as macroeconomic indicators pointed in the right direction with high prospects for growth to rebound.
“The 600 million dollars gives us additional financing for budget implementation in line with the program. We will continue to control our spending and improve revenue generation to improve our creditworthiness by 2026,” Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Attah said.
The West African cocoa, gold, and crude oil-producing country experienced significant economic volatility over the past three years with ballooning sovereign debts, rising inflation, exchange rate depreciation, and loss of external buffers, undermining strong growth and overall macroeconomic stability.
The Ghanaian government received approval for the 3-billion-dollar loan from the IMF last May in response to the immediate pressures in the economy to pave the way for a more resilient and prosperous economy.