Key agreements government made with IMF to reach staff-level agreement

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has detailed the key processes that have led to the attainment of the staff-level agreement announced on December 13, 2022.

According to him, the government has tirelessly worked in the last six months to ensure the SLA is reached before the end of 2022.

Speaking at a joint press briefing on December 13, 2022, the minister said: “Since the announcement on 1st July 2022 to formally engage the IMF for an IMF-supported Programme, there have been three rounds of negotiations with the IMF interspersed with a number of virtual meetings in-between to ensure both the GoG and the IMF teams work around the clock to get the SLA by end Dec 2022.”

He also outlined key aspects of the IMF Programme that the government of Ghana and the fund have reached in order to establish staff-level agreements.

Ofori-Atta said “Key deliverables over the period include:

a) Preparation of the Post-COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG);

b) A Medium-term macroeconomic framework;

c) Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) and Debt Management Strategy;

d) Structural reforms to address structural bottlenecks, improve competitiveness and promote efficiency and effectiveness;

e) A Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP); and

f) An Agreement on Prior Actions which are expected to be completed before the Fund goes to the Board.

“Ghana stands ready to complete all Prior Actions before the end-March 2023 but more importantly, Ghana is committed to the IMF Programme as a whole,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund and the Government of Ghana have reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies and reforms to be supported by a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of about US$3 billion.

A statement released on the Fund's website said the IMF Mission Chief for Ghana led by Stéphane Roudet noted that "I am pleased to announce that the IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the Ghanaian authorities on a three-year program supported by an arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in the amount of SDR 2.242 billion or about US$3 billion."

"The economic program aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while laying the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth," the statement added.

SSD/FNOQ