'It could take three or more years for Ghana to access capital markets' – Ofori-Atta

Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has announced that it would take a while for the country to return to the international capital market. According to him, it may take at least three or more years.

Ken Ofori-Atta explained that, although this new development may look like a challenge, it presents the country with a viable opportunity to attain its self-sufficiency agenda.

“In terms of returning to the international capital market, I suspect it will take some two-three years or so if not more for us to get back to it. I think in the interim we should be able to generate local resources to do that. But I think what is also significant about the programme if you look at the Ghana Cares programme it is our policy to be self-sufficient in poultry, rice, tomatoes etc. which we’ve begun to do so that will reduce your foreign exchange demands and actually hopefully begin to export those products,” Ken Ofori-Atta made this known in an engagement with the media on the sideline of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring meeting in Washington DC.

Reacting to assurance from the Fund on the higher possibility of Ghana securing the $3 billion loan bailout, Ken Ofori-Atta explained that, these assurances give evidence of the hard work and efforts by the government to ensure that there is a positive closure to the IMF deal as soon as possible.

He explained that “We have worked hard as a country to get here and we have stuck to it through the difficult times as you know, especially through the debt exchange programme and I think the world recognizes that we are prepared to take responsibility and share in the burden of what we have to do. But still, clearly, I believe God’s favour is on the country and it’s really up to us to work hard so that we can get through this programme".

Ghana is likely to receive the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Board approval for a $3 billion bailout by the close of May 2023.

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