The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board has granted Ghana’s request for $3 billion in financial assistance.
At a meeting in Washington today, May 17, 2023, the Board reportedly unanimously approved Ghana’s program for the following three years.
According to the report, the IMF has also declared that a virtual press conference will take place on Thursday, [May 18], in order to give journalists access to the conclusions of the Executive Board meeting regarding Ghana’s request for an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement.
At the press conference, notable speakers will include Tatiana Mossot, senior communications officer at the IMF, Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s minister of finance, Ernest Addison, governor of the Bank of Ghana, and Stephane Roudet, head of the IMF mission for Ghana.
Over the weekend, IMF expected to deliver the first tranche of cash to Ghana this week, according to Mohammed Amin Adam, Ghana’s State Minister for Finance.
He stated that the first loan tranche of $600 million is anticipated to be disbursed to Reuters on Sunday, May 14, 2023.
“We expect a deal on Wednesday. With the disbursement, there is going to be $600 million as a first tranche just immediately after the approval,” Adam said by phone, adding that Ghana hoped to receive the funds within a week of the board’s decision.
He added that a second tranche of $600 million is anticipated to be approved following the program’s successful first review in November or December 2023.
Benjamin Nsiah, a financial analyst, claims that the $3 billion IMF bailout will not resolve the nation’s economic issues.
He claims that because the $3 billion bailout from the IMF will be paid out in installments rather than in full at once, it won’t work like magic to solve the current crisis.
He further criticized the government for taking actions that actually aid in the contraction and constriction of local industries rather than helping to increase their production capacity.
