Remain steadfast, adapt lending toolkits to serve vulnerable countries - Governor Addison to IMF

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to loosen requirements for struggling economies to be able to access funding and support.

According to him, African economies have currently been saddled with a debt crisis due to the COVID-19 crisis and the global unrest.

He added that public debt in sub-Saharan Africa has now reached levels last seen in the early 2000s.

Speaking during the IMF-World Bank meeting in Morocco he said: “While members remain committed to implementing relevant policies and reforms towards enhancing fiscal discipline with the aim of restoring debt sustainability and fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the continent, a much stronger IMF support would be crucial, amid the current challenging global environment.”

Dr. Addison said the Fund should among other things, increase funding allocations to vulnerable members.

“Given the fragmented global financial architecture, we urge the IMF to remain steadfast and adapt its lending toolkits to changing global conditions to serve its vulnerable membership better. In this context, we restate our earlier request for increased concessional financing by aligning PRGT access thresholds with those of the GRA to ensure uniformity of treatment.”

He also called on the Fund to relax the PRGT eligibility criteria to foster access to adequate Fund support while reducing, suspending, or eliminating entirely surcharges for most vulnerable PRGT-eligible members facing acute debt challenges.

Dr. Addison further reiterated the call for additional pledges from willing donors to close the gaps in PRGT resources.

“We further stress the criticality of a successful completion of the ongoing 16th GRQ to reinforce IMF finances while protecting the quota share of the vulnerable members. Strengthening multilateral coordination and efficiency of regulatory framework for debt resolution in LICs, through a formidable Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR), is paramount.

“While welcoming the latest developments on Zambia and Chad, we underscore the need to revamp the G20 Common Framework (CF) to ensure timely, orderly, equitable, inclusive, and transparent debt restructuring for distressed members in the region (including, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Malawi),” he added

SSD/DAG

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