Government confident of reaching Staff-Level Agreement with IMF by end of 2022

Government has said it is confident of reaching a Staff Level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the Fund’s support programme to help lessen the current economic hardship through its homegrown economic programme. A Staff-Level Agreement is reached between a country requesting for a Fund support programme with the Mission, as Ghana is currently doing with the Bretton Wood institution. The agreement reached between the country and the IMF Mission is subject to IMF Management and Executive Board approval and receipt of the necessary financing assurances before loans are granted. Following Ghana’s recent discussion with the IMF team at Washington, DC, the Ministry of Finance said the teams had made progress towards reaching an agreement by the end of this year. “A clear path towards the final details of a Programme has been agreed upon by both parties, with the goal of reaching a Staff-Level Agreement by the end of the year,” the Ministry said in a press statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday. The Ministry also said a pathway towards fiscal sustainability had been extensively discussed. “The Government of Ghana and the IMF remain fully committed to the goal of reaching a Staff-Level Agreement on a Programme, within the shortest possible time,” the statement noted. The Ministry pledged its commitment to continue with the negotiations with the IMF Mission Team, expected in Accra in the next few weeks taking into consideration, the goal of reaching the Staff-Level agreement by the end of December 2022. The Ministry expressed its appreciation and that of the Bank of Ghana to Ghanaians “for their forbearance in what is undoubtedly a troubling and challenging time for our economy, and economies globally.” “Government will continue to work, with a fierce sense of urgency, to stabilize the economy and place it back on a firm trajectory of growth,” the Ministry said in the statement. To keep Ghanaians and investors updated on the progress made, the Ministry said it would regularly give information on the website through a dedicated section titled “IMF Programme Updates.” At Washington DC, the Government Delegation also had several engagements with the World Bank, Bilateral Partners, US State Officials, and External Investors, all aimed at finding lasting solutions to the current economic hardship. In a statement on Thursday, the IMF also said it had made progress on specific policies to support Ghana’s homegrown programme to restore macroeconomic stability for stronger and more inclusive growth. Mr Stéphane Roudet, the IFM team, said: “The IMF team and the Ghanaian authorities remain fully committed to reaching agreement on a framework and policies for an IMF-supported programme as soon as feasible.” Ghana, just like other countries worldwide, is going through economic hardship, which some authorities, including the IMF and World Bank, have attributed, mainly to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. This has resulted in hikes in food, fuel and transport price hikes, as inflation continues to rise, together with depreciation of the local currency (the Cedi) against the Dollar, and its attendant exchange rate pressures. The Government has admitted to the economic hardship and echoed its commitment to ensuring that policies and programmes, including the ongoing negotiations with the IMF for a loan support programme, would help alleviate the sufferings of Ghanaians in the shortest time possible.