Ghana is confident of receiving the second tranche of the bail-out from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by December, Finance Minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta declared last Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Ofori-Atta said this during a breakfast meeting by the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC), adding that the disbursement would further boost the country’s Balance of Payment (BoP) position for the rest of 2023 and 2024.
“We are ready for the coming of the IMF mission team to Ghana by the end of September and are confident of getting a staff-level agreement while the mission is here and proceed to the board in Washington DC for the release of the second tranche of 600 million U.S. dollars,” said the finance minister.
In line with the conditions for accessing the full IMF support, the official said he was confident about the conclusion of talks with the Paris Club and the other bilateral creditors by the end of 2023.
In addition, the minister said the government was working with the World Bank Group for the release of 300 million dollars to the country, which would enable the country to get about one billion dollars to support the Bank of Ghana’s BoP issues.
The West African gold, cocoa, and crude oil exporter received 600 million dollars from the IMF in May as the first tranche of the 3.0
billion-dollar three-year extended credit facility to help the country out of the economic quagmire characterized by high fiscal deficit, surging public debts, a fast depreciating local currency, and high inflation.
The Fund will conduct its first review of the program from the end of September to determine whether the country qualifies for the second tranche before the end of 2023.