According to Mr. Kwame Jantuah, a private attorney, the government must use the first $600 million of the $3 billion tranche in accordance with the terms and conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.
Otherwise, the nation would run the risk of losing the other tranches, he claimed.
The Convention People’s Party’s (CPP) Mr. Jantuah, who was speaking on the Big Issue on TV3 on Friday, May 19, said: “If we do not handle this $600 million first tranche well, the rest of the $3 billion won’t come in.”
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) anticipates receiving the initial payment of $600 million today, May 19.
The central bank had already received an advisory notification about that, according to BoG Governor Dr. Ernest Addison.
Dr. Addison attended virtually from Accra and remarked, “Just for your information, we have had swift advisory today, [Thursday] to receive the money by tomorrow [Friday], 600million US Dollar” at the IMF-Ghana joint press conference conducted in Washington on May 18.
For his part, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta stated that the second tranche is anticipated to be received during the upcoming six months.
“There is a 600million Dollars release, I am sure we can get it by tomorrow, and in the next 6 months it is going to be another 600million dollars and then we have about five different tranches in the periods forward to get to the 3bn,” he said.
The $3 billion bailout will lead to reforms in the energy and cocoa industries, according to Stéphane Roudet, the head of the IMF mission in Ghana.
He added that the initiative will bring about reforms to promote private sector investment and also increase global reserves.
“There will be reforms in the energy and cocoa sectors,” he said during a joint Ghana -IMF press conference.
“It will be restoring macroeconomic stability, for higher and more inclusive growth. It has reforms that will make the economy more resilient and likely to withstand shock in the future,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Bank of Ghana will host an urgent MPC meeting to discuss the economy. Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, expressed gratitude to the Fund for its assistance.
“We are already observing relative currency stability, inflation, and a revival of our economy,” he declared. Ghana’s government will overcome its current issues and come out stronger thanks to the IMF’s assistance and everyone’s cooperation.
Following Ghana’s acquisition of the Paris Club funding assurance on Friday, May 12, the Board of the Fund unanimously approved Ghana’s bailout during a meeting in Washington on May 17 (Wednesday).