IMF increases lending rate on Special Drawing Rights

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has increased its interest rates on loans given to member countries.

This comes after IMF increased its lending rate on Special Drawing Rights (SDR) from 0.89% to 2.99%.

The hike, which represents 2.1 percentage points took effect on Friday, January 6, 2023.

This means that the interest rate on the US$3 billion financial bailout programme government of Ghana is seeking from the IMF will shoot up.

Government of Ghana will have to "pay an interest of 2.99% on the US$3 billion loan over a period that will be determined by the terms and conditions of the Fund," Asaaseradio.com has said.

According to IMF, Special Drawing Rights (SDR) is an international reserve asset created by the Fund to supplement the official reserves of its member countries.

It added that "SDR is not a currency. It is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. As such, SDRs can provide a country with liquidity."

Ghana is targeting $3 billion over a three-year period from the IMF once an agreement on a programme is finalized.

The new amount requested as a loan is double government’s initial target of $1.5 billion.

On December 13, 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it has reached a staff-level agreement with Ghana on economic policies and reforms to be supported by a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of about US$3 billion.

According to the IMF, the authorities’ strong reform programme is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability of Ghana's economy.

ESA/FNOQ