Government set to begin formal negotiations with IMF next month

The government is set to begin formal negotiations with the IMF for a program from next month. According to the Finance Ministry, the country’s Enhance Domestic Program has also been put together to guide these discussions.

Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare who disclose this on Pm Express Business Edition noted that Government is committed to reaching a deal with the Fund by first quarter of 2023.

“They came to collect some data and in September we will also go and sit with them and engage and we are hoping that within four to six months we should have a program with them and that will bring in some foreign currencies as well.

“In this current situation, there are no short fixes anywhere. We cannot quickly turn things around within a minute or two but we believe that these are the things that if we pursue and with the support of Ghanaians we will be able to see real light at the end of the tunnel,“ she added.

On July 5, government made a formal declaration of its intention to engage the IMF for economic support.

A team from the Bretton Woods Institutions has since concluded an assessment of the eligibility of the country for the required support.

At the end of a week-long discussion with members of the Economic Management Team, the IMF officials expressed the commitment of the Fund to assist Ghana.

While some analysts have commended the government for the bold initiative, others have derided it for running the economy down through imprudent expenditure. They contended that the resort to the IMF could have been avoided if government had cut down on some needless expenditure.

However, President Akufo-Addo says his government will negotiate a good deal with the International Monetary Fund.

“A deal that would allow us to revive our economy and to continue the task of building an even stronger economy than we had before,” he stressed.

He further assured that, “we will be in a position, not only to negotiate, but implement a good arrangement. We have done it before and we will do it again.”

President Akufo-Addo promised that, “in so doing, the strong economy that we are going to build, is the economy that is going to provide the platform for our victory in 2024.”