Going to IMF for US$3bn bailout was a painful decision for me to take – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed that it was a painful decision for him for his government to run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance.

He pointed out that an IMF bailout programme was not part of his government's transformation agenda but the narrative changed when the local economy took a nose dive after the outbreak of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Addressing the nation on Sunday, May 28, 2023, President Akufo-Addo said, “It was a painful decision for me to take, because going to the IMF was not part of the economic transformation agenda I had been pursuing, especially as my government had gone the extra mile to bring to a successful end the IMF programme we inherited from the previous government.”

It would be recalled that government on July 1, 2022, announced its decision to engage the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $3 billion financial bailout programme.

Subsequently, a team from the IMF arrived in the country from July 6 to July 13, 2022, to engage Ghanaian authorities for a possible economic support programme.

A staff-level agreement between Government of Ghana and IMF was reached in December 2022.

On May 17, 2023, IMF's executive board approved Ghana's $3 billion loan facility.

The IMF programme, according to government is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and safeguarding debt sustainability among many others.



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