In order to support the economy of Ghana, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has given Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta permission to begin formal negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The directive, according to a statement from the nation’s information ministry, was the result of a phone call between President Akufo-Addo and Miss Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF, Graphic.com said.
The statement on Friday, July 1 stated that “in a meeting on June 30th, 2022, the cabinet indicated its support for the decision.”
As part of a larger attempt to hasten Ghana’s recovery from the obstacles brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and, more recently, the Russia-Ukraine conflicts, the engagement with the IMF will strive to give a balance of payment support.
— Gabby Otchere-Darko (@GabbyDarko) July 1, 2022
Just over three years after leaving the program, Ghana returns to the IMF.
In recent months, government spending has been reduced in order to prevent a full-blown financial crisis, and Ghanaians have been feeling the sting of record inflation as well as the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to a Graphic.com story sighted by Advertafrica.net, Ghana’s GDP expanded by 3.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, while inflation shot up to a new high of 27.6 percent in May.
In addition to this, the nation is also struggling with a large amount of debt and the cedi’s decline. E-Levy, a contentious tax on electronic transactions, has not yet produced a sizable amount of money while being intended to reduce the government’s burden.
This week, there was a two-day protest in Accra against rising fuel prices, inflation, and the state of the economy.
In order to support the Ghanaian people, the Arise Ghana organization demanded that the government immediately revoke the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy), as well as take action to lower inflation and stop the devaluation of the cedi.
According to a grahic.com story, the nation requested a $918 million loan from the IMF in April 2015 to help stabilize the economy and sustain its weak currency.
Oh Wow . pic.twitter.com/DfQZwDXXlS
— CAPTAIN PLANET 4X4 (@CAPTAINPLANETGH) July 1, 2022
In collaboration with the government, IMF advisors created a three-part program to improve monetary policy, clean up the banking sector, and restore debt sustainability.
Ghana left the IMF program in December 2018, and the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, reassured the nation that the government will support the IMF reforms with institutional and legislative steps to guarantee the permanence of the benefits obtained thus far.
