Vice President welcomes IMF Boss at Kotoka International Airport

Madam Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Accra, on Sunday, for a three-day visit.

She was received by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, at the VVIP Lounge of the Kotoka International Airport.

Madam Lagarde said she was happy to be in Ghana and looking forward for fruitful engagements. It is the first time an IMF Boss has visited Ghana.

She would hold bilateral talks with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House, the Seat of Government.

The visit comes weeks ahead of the end of the country’s three-year IMF programme and marks an appreciation of the country’s policy direction and solid economic fundamentals.

Analysts say it is also an acknowledgement of the fiscal rules implemented by Government and the country’s readiness to expand her economic growth through both local and foreign investors.

Madam Lagarde’s visit has the potential to unlock for the nation good coupon rate on the International Bonds Market and further strengthen the cordial relations between Ghana and the IMF’s economic policies.

On Monday, December 17, the IMF she would participate in the Future of Work in Sub-Saharan Africa Conference, in Accra.

The forum would afford an opportunity to the IMF Boss to engage in thought leaders and influencers from the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

The conference is also designed to generate debate on policies on the way forward for African leaders and private enterprises to create jobs to balance the rapid population growth within the sub-Saharan nations.

She would also discuss how the Sub-region could manage and leverage the impact of technological change, demographics, climate change and the cause of globalisation.

Madam Lagarde would also have lunch with some young Ghanaian women entrepreneurs, who are doing marvelously well in their fields of work.

On Tuesday, December 18, the IMF Boss is expected to deliver a keynote address at a forum in Accra, which would be attended by officials and representatives from government agencies, the Central Bank, private sector, civil society organisations, think tanks and NGOs.

She leaves Accra on Tuesday, December 18, for South Africa.