Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, Government Spokesperson on Governance and Security, says the much-awaited US$3 billion from the International Monitory Fund (IMF) would enable the government to bolster the economy of the country when it finally arrives.
This, he said, would bring great relief to many Ghanaians and also ameliorate their plights, as it would be expected to address the urgent fiscal balance of payments and additionally provide adequate budgetary support.
Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Palgrave Boaky-Danquah hinted that after a review of the various policies that had been put in place, in terms of budgetary and balance supports, another US$600m would be received in six months.
Ghana began negotiations with the IMF on the first of July 2022 for an amount of US$3 billion under the request of an Extended Credit Facility.
After almost a year of successful negotiations, the IMF is said to have agreed to give Ghana an amount of US$600m as the first tranche of the negotiated amount of US$3 billion which would span a period of three years.
According to Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, Ghana would receive an amount of $120 million out of the $3 billion for the first year of the three-year period, and receive the remaining amount in the tranches of $360m until the full amount is received.
First tranche to bolster investor confidence
He further explained that the first tranche of $600m which is expected to hit the account of the Central Bank of Ghana by Friday, would significantly boost investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy.
“One of the good things about this IMF negotiation is to protect the lives and livelihood of poor people and so we have taken into key consideration the poor people and the very difficulties challenges that people face,” he explained.
“We are making sure that really the money is put to strict and good use and there is going to be a strict proof of that over the period,” he said and indicated further that it was going to impact all sectors of the local economy.
Government, he said, has a vision and has therefore, strategically planned to build a resilient and robust economy that would ensure that the country would be able to adequately withstand external shocks in the future.
This has led to the effective implementation of Ghana’s Post-Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), a blueprint underpinning the IMF Programme which aimed at addressing the economic challenges facing the country.
The implementation of the programme would restore macroeconomic stability, bring debt to sustainable levels in the medium-term, support structural reforms, promote growth and ensure that the poor and vulnerable were protected.
Mr. Boakye-Danquah therefore stated that the US$600m from the IMF would basically go into debt sustainability, fiscal consolidation, strengthen monetary and exchange rate policies, and support the building of financial institutions.
Additionally, Palgrave Boakye-Danquah explained that the first tranche of the IMF support would help macro-critical structural reforms, maintain peace and security and empower economic growth and transformation.
