Finance Ministry refutes 'Ghana downgraded to low income country' claims

The Ministry of Finance has issued a disclaimer to media reports that have said that Ghana has been downgraded as a low income country by the IMF in accordance with its latest Fiscal Monitor.

This, according to a press statement from the Ministry, is not accurate as the country's "continues to be categorized as a “Lower-Middle Income Economy” based on the widely-recognized classification of the World Bank and the UN."

Also, the statement insists the reference that was made to the latest International Monetary Fund Fiscal Monitor did not represent the findings therein as Ghana's status did not change.

"The IMF Fiscal Monitor does not aspire at classifying countries by income level. Instead, it analyses the latest public finance developments, updates medium-term fiscal projections, and assesses policies to put public finances on a sustainable footing. The groupings of economies presented in the Fiscal Monitor’s Methodological and Statistical Appendix serve an analytical purpose only. In this appendix, Ghana is conveniently categorized as a “Low-Income Developing Country (LIDC)”, like other Lower-Middle Income Economies such as Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria and others.

"Ghana’s classification in the recent IMF Fiscal Monitor did not change. In effect, there is nothing like the country being downgraded," it said.

The Ministry of Finance statement further assured Ghanaians of the country's continued efforts at maintaining the current rating it has, while working to upgrade it, and not to downgrade it.

"We wish to reassure all Ghanaians that Ghana is still classified as a Lower-Middle Income Country. It is unfortunate that the media houses in Ghana did not contact the Ministry for verification, neither did they contact the offices of the World Bank and/ or the IMF in Ghana for corroboration.

"Public mis-information of this magnitude has serious implications for the international investor community, especially coming on the heels of a major and successful Eurobond issuance two weeks ago," it concluded.

Read the full statement below: