Government sets new date for possible IMF programme


Government is now looking at a program with the IMF by the end of March.

President Mahama disclosed this in an interview with the Reuters news agency. This is the second time the President has moved the date forward. Butย  does thisย  give credence toย  concerns thatย  Ghana isย  likely to get financial assistance from the Fund, by the second quarter of this year?

It is however not clear what has changed or influencedย the President’s decision to push the date forward after announcing earlier this year that the program could be finalized by January.

Following that announcement,ย Joy Business also spoke to theย  leader of the Ghana team negotiatingย with IMF, Professor Kwesi Botchwey,ย who maintained thatย the program with the Fund should be finalisedย by February ending.

Nonetheless, for industry watchers who have beenย followingย the negotiations, the new date by the Presidentย could be difficult to meet, because of some concerns that the IMF and the European Union (EU) have raised.

The IMF and the EU are requesting a detailed plan on how to mitigate the impact of theย decliningย crude oil pricesย on government’s revenue and how some 2 billion expected loss or hole in government revenueย  can be filled.

Also, they want to see a hold on hiring of new personnel to the public sector, andย  an aggressive programmeย to address data issues onย  government’sย pay roll.

Further, they are requesting a revised 2015 budget, a limit on the amount of money the Bank of Ghana can lend to government and reduction in inflation.

According to the country’s development partners, ย all these issues must be addressed before a programme can be finalised.

This means for the president’s revised date to be viable, most of these issues must be addressed quickly.

Joy Business has also gathered that normallyย  it takes about six weeksย  for the IMF Board to work on a country’sย  report, so even if everything is concluded by theย end of February, a programme will only be possible in April.

For many analystsย  any delay in securing a program with the IMFย could have serious implications for the economy, especially to the stability of the cedi.

Ghana is hoping to secure about $1 billion from IMF under a three-programme for balance of payment support.


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