Nana Konadu Agyeman & Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu
5 minutes read
Ghana will no longer seek financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has declared.
He recounted the severe economic crisis the country suffered in 2022, leading to seeking assistance from the IMF, with the attendant painful sacrifices, all arising from reckless spending, excessive borrowing and poor financial management.
“It is important to recount this not to dwell on the past, but to remind ourselves of the heavy price of fiscal indiscipline and economic recklessness, and to affirm our collective resolve that Ghana must never return to that path,” the Finance Minister said.
Making a statement to parliament yesterday on the country’s new engagement with the IMF, Dr Forson said some painful experiences could not be taught; they must be lived to be understood, but once experienced, never again should they be repeated.
Dr Forson said the country had successfully completed the final review of its current IMF programme and would transition to a new, non-financing arrangement known as a Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI).
He described the development as a major milestone in President John Mahama’s Reset Agenda, noting that Ghana had moved from crisis management to economic stability.
“Ghana has evolved from a position of supplicant to one of partner,” he said, stressing that the new engagement with the IMF would focus on policy coordination, reforms and investor confidence rather than direct financial assistance.
“No further IMF financial bailout will be required in the foreseeable future,” he stated.
Economic turnaround
Dr Forson told Parliament that the government had undertaken decisive reforms to restore macroeconomic stability after inheriting what he described as a deep economic and financial crisis.
He said in 2022, Ghana experienced severe fiscal and debt challenges characterised by rapid cedi depreciation, soaring inflation, weakened investor confidence and loss of access to the international capital market, resulting in repeated sovereign credit rating downgrades by major international rating agencies.
The crisis, he stated, culminated in Ghana’s request for debt treatment under the G20 Common Framework, while the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), introduced in December 2022, widely imposed significant losses on domestic bondholders, including pensioners, banks and financial institutions.
“Ordinary Ghanaians bore the heaviest burden of the crisis through runaway inflation, erosion of incomes and savings, high interest rates, job losses and increased economic insecurity,” he stated.
Reforms
Dr Forson explained that upon assuming office, the government recalibrated the IMF-supported programme to ensure fairer burden-sharing and deeper structural reforms.
Among the key interventions he mentioned were the introduction of a Public Financial Management commitment control system to contain expenditure, the operationalisation of the Sinking Fund to manage future debt obligations, and the establishment of the GoldBod initiative to support foreign exchange stability and reserve accumulation.
He further stated that the government had abolished a number of nuisance taxes, including the E-Levy, Betting Tax, Emissions Levy and VAT on motor insurance, and had reduced the number of ministers from 123 to 60 and cut ministries from 30 to 23 as part of efforts to improve efficiency and reduce wasteful expenditure.
Positive indicators
Dr Forson said the reforms had yielded significant improvements across the economy.
He announced that Ghana recorded a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of six per cent in 2025, which is the highest expansion in the post-pandemic period, while non-oil GDP growth reached 7.6 per cent, the highest in 14 years.
He said for the first time, Ghana’s economy crossed the $100 billion mark in 2025, making it a fully fledged emerging market economy and the eighth largest economy in Africa.
The Finance Minister added that inflation declined sharply from 23.8 per cent in December 2024 to 3.4 per cent in April 2026, while the public debt-to-GDP ratio fell from 61.8 per cent in 2024 to 44.7 per cent at the end of last year.
The cedi also appreciated by 40.7 per cent against the US dollar in 2025, while treasury bill rates and the monetary policy rate recorded substantial declines.
“These results affirm a simple but enduring truth: fiscal prudence and discipline always deliver results,” he stated.
New IMF engagement
Dr Forson explained that Ghana’s future engagement with the IMF would now be through the PCI, designed for countries that do not require financial assistance but seek policy guidance and reform credibility.
He said the arrangement would allow the country to continue benefiting from IMF policy assessments and technical expertise, while strengthening investor confidence and improving the country’s credit ratings.
“In other words, Ghana has moved from the intensive-care unit to the wellness centre,” the Finance Minister said.
New economy
The minister also disclosed that the government was preparing a new economic programme dubbed “The New Economy” to be unveiled in the 2027 Budget Statement, with a focus on sustainable job creation, increased productivity, economic resilience and broad-based prosperity.
He expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for their sacrifices and patience throughout the economic recovery process, assuring them that the government would not rest on its achievements.
“Our solemn pledge is that we will not be complacent; we will continue the hard work of building the Ghana we want,” he said.
