An IMF mission is to visit Ghana this week for a third review of the 918 million fund programme signed with the West African country.
The third review comes after the IMF expressed satisfaction in its second review in January, and approved 114 million dollars tranche of the programme to Ghana.
As part of the mission’s visit to the country, the team will hold discussions with key government agencies including the Bank of Ghana.
The Director of African Department at the IMF , Madam Antoinette Sayeh, who disclosed this at a press conference in Washington DC, USA; stated that the board is encouraged by Ghana’s effort to stick with the targets under the program to attain fiscal stability.
She stated: “We are encouraged by the fact that the government has made quite an effort to stick with the targets under the program and the fiscal is on track”, she said adding that “one of the objectives of the program in is to help the government contain and reduce debt through performance in increasing the primary fiscal balance”.
“Ghana is making progress in that regard. Of course, people see the fact of the financing last year that was done in the form of the sovereign bond issue and the expense of that is something that undermines debt sustainability”, she pointed out.
Ghana signed up for the IMF programme in April 2015 after fiscal instability triggered a 12% over-expenditure in the 2013. The programme aims at limiting the need for financing through debt—whether domestic or foreign.
African Eye Report
