IMF Demands Refund Of Loans To Ghana

The past NDC government of Ghana on two occasions gave false information about the economy to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and succeeded in getting loans to fund various projects.

Consequently, the IMF is demanding a refund of all loans and grants, totaling $38.5 million, given to the Ghana government between August and September last year. The refund is a penalty the country has to pay for providing false information.

Ghana's Finance Minister, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Marfo who made this known at a post budget press briefing in Accra said only three countries have ever provided false information to the IMF and Ghana is the only country to have done so twice. He said the provision of the false information to the IMF seems to have been deliberate and cannot be blamed on the non-availability of data because the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance have the required information on the state of the economy.