International Monetary Fund Archives

16 Jun

Ghanaian Economy Stabilising – IMF Says After Staff Visit

wontumionlineBusinessInternational Monetary Fund

International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team led by Stéphane Roudet visited Ghana from June 8 to 15, as part of its regular engagement with the Ghanaian authorities and other stakeholders. The discussions focused on recent economic developments and implementation of the Fund-supported programme approved on May 17, 2023. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr Roudet issued a statement saying: "During the visit, we discussed recent macroeconomic developments". "Against a complex global economic backdrop, the Ghanaian economy is showing signs of stabilisation, with softening inflation, an increase in international reserves, and a less volatile exchange rate", he observed. He reported:…

25 May

IMF Approves US$3.5 Billion Loan For Ivory Coast, US$500m Released As Tranche 1

wontumionlineBusinessInternational Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund Board has approved a US$3.5bn loan agreement with Ivory Coast as part of economic support measures to help the cocoa grower tackle challenges. The BBC reports that Ghana's western neighbour will receive nearly $500 million immediately. Further funds will be dependent on Ivory Coast making structural changes to its economy, the BBC report added. According to the IMF, the amount is to help Ivory Coast tackle three shocks by way of the aftershocks of COVID pandemic, global monetary tightening and the Russia-Ukraine war. Ghana only recently received approval for a US$3 billion bailout out if which US$600 million…

22 May

Ghana’s Import Cover Increases To 2.6 Months After Receipt Of IMF Loan – BoG

wontumionlineBusinessbank of ghana, International Monetary Fund

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, has noted that as of May 19, 2023, after the first tranche of the $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan hit the Bank of Ghana’s account, Ghana’s gross international reserves have increased to $5.7 billion. This is indicative of 2.6 months of import cover. He made the statement at the 112th Monetary Policy committee meeting on May 22, 2023. He said: “Gross International Reserves at the end of March 2023 stood at US$5.1 billion, equivalent to 2.4 months of import cover, compared with the end-December 2022 stock position of US$6.2 billion, equivalent to 2.7…

27 Apr

Akufo-Addo Pleads For Concessionary Loans To Revive Ghana’s Economy

wontumionlineBusinessInternational Monetary Fund, President Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made a passionate appeal to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to provide Ghana with concessionary loans to help revive the ailing economy. According to him, the loan facility is critical to the private sector which has been negatively impacted by the current economic challenges. Making remarks following a visit from the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to Ghana, president Akufo-Addo said the concessionary loans could be granted on more favourable terms compared to what the borrower could obtain in the marketplace. He explained that the terms could also be based…

13 Apr

IMF Predicts Ghana’s Inflation Rate To Reduce To 8.8% By 2028

wontumionlineBusinessIMF Director, International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that, Ghana’s inflation rate by the end of the year 2028 would decline drastically to a single digit inflation of 8.8 percent. This was made known in the recently launched Fiscal Monitor report released on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. In the report, the Fund predicted that Ghana would end the year 2023 with an inflation rate of 45.5 percent and this would further decline by close of 2024 to 22.2 percent. On Ghana’s fiscal deficit, the report projected that, the country’s fiscal deficit will reduce to 7.3 percent by the end of 2023, however, in…

12 Apr

IMF Warns Deeper Financial Turmoil Would Slam Global Growth

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The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook slightly as higher interest rates cool activity but warned that a severe flare-up of financial system turmoil could slash output to near recessionary levels. The IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report that banking system contagion risks were contained by strong policy actions after the failures of two U.S. regional banks and the forced merger of Credit Suisse. But the turmoil added another layer of uncertainty on top of stubbornly high inflation and spillovers from Russia’s war in Ukraine. “With the recent increase in financial market…

11 Apr

Ofori-Atta, Dr Addison In Washington To Make Final Push For $3 Billion IMF Deal

wontumionlineBusinessDr. Ernest Addison, imf, International Monetary Fund, Ken Ofori Atta

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, and other members of the economic management team are currently in Washington, D.C., to deliberate on Ghana’s pending request at the International Monetary Fund. The meeting is crucial to determining Ghana’s next step with the Fund. Ghana is currently seeking a $3 billion financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund to help the country solve its balance of payment issues and the current economic crisis. The team is attending the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings as an all-important opportunity for Ghana to make its case and secure a deal for the…

05 Apr

IMF Calls For Rules On Non-Bank Financial Sector To Prevent Turmoil

wontumionlineBusinessInternational Monetary Fund

The non-bank sector now accounts for half of the assets of the entire world financial system and should be more closely regulated to protect its stability, staff economists from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday. The release of the research comes a week before the IMF and World Bank convene a semi-annual gathering of central bankers and finance ministers in Washington, amid the fallout from last month’s failures of American and European banks. In the years since the 2008 Wall Street meltdown, governments have promoted economic growth by keeping interest rates low while beefing up oversight of traditional banks. According…

20 Feb

Innocent Bystanders: Ghana Was On Track Till COVID, Russia-Ukraine War – IMF Boss

wontumionlineNewsInternational Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva

Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has backed government’s position that the current economic crisis is down to the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftershocks as well as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. She said, it was not a secret that exogenous factors had seriously impacted Ghana and other economies around the world, but that her outfit was doing all it could to help the affected countries. “We recognize that we are in a world in which exogenous shocks more often than before, hit innocent bystanders. “Ghana has been working towards good policies for quite some time and then COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine…

13 Jan

IMF Deal To Be Sealed Latest February – Akufo-Addo

wontumionlineNewsInternational Monetary Fund, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed hopes of his government closing a deal with the International Monetary Fund in February. According to the President, the deal aside enabling the economy to bounce back and repair the country’s public finances will as well, “rebuild the confidence of outsiders in our economy and our own self-confidence in the manner in which economy can proceed.” “We are going through that process with them (IMF) right now, as we speak and hopefully by the end of this month or latest by the middle of February, a full-blown IMF agreement will be put in place,” the president said…