$3 billion bailout: Government to miss March target for IMF board approval

The Government of Ghana did not feature in the schedule of meetings for the Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the rest of March 2023.

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, in February, warned of the consequences of Ghana not making significant progress in the $3 billion bailout it is seeking from the IMF by the end of March 2023.

According to him, if the government does not go to the fund with something concrete by March, the economic meltdown seen in 2022 might be seen again.

“We need to be mindful that we really need to be successful in going to the fund by this March to avoid what we all experienced last year, which we all don’t want to experience again,” the minister is quoted as having told pensioner bondholders, who resisted their inclusion in a domestic debt exchange programme on Monday, February 6, 2023.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also stated during the 2023 State of the Nation’s Address in Parliament on March 8, 2023, that the government was on course "to present to the IMF executive board, Ghana’s programme request for a $3 billion extended credit facility by the end of this month”.

The schedule of the IMF Executive Board meeting for the next seven days, which was shared by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, showed that the board would be meeting nine countries, excluding Ghana, before the end of March.

The fund, however, indicated that the schedule was tentative and could be changed.

View the schedule of the IMF board below:

Thus far, Ghana hasn’t featured on the IMF Executive Board Calendar for March despite President Akufo-Addo’s assurance in Parliament during his Message on the State of the Nation.

We hope Ofori-Atta succeeds in wooing the Chinese in Beijing so we can also soon secure a $3billion pic.twitter.com/vRyvEw0UML

— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) March 21, 2023