This year has been difficult for Africa, economy to grow stronger in 2024 - IMF

Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, has said local economies in Africa have suffered several difficulties this year.

According to her, the economies in Africa were still emerging from the shocks of the global pandemic - coronavirus - as well as being hit with high cost of borrowing and high cost of living.

As African countries try to come out of the economic crisis, the IMF has expressed optimism that these economies would bounce back on track in the coming year.

Kristalina Georgieva said the outlook for 2024 provides hopeful signals that economic activity is gradually strengthening with stronger growth.

Also, high inflation rate was declining, and fiscal imbalance was narrowing.

“We had very productive discussions on Africa’s economic prospects. This year has been a difficult year for Africa. The region is still emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic and African countries have been hit by high borrowing costs (“funding squeeze”) and a cost-of-living crisis," She said.

The IMF Managing Director added that, "Several countries of the Group have experienced increased political instability and deteriorating security underscoring the need to address persistent fragility. Notwithstanding these challenges, recent data, and the outlook for 2024 provide hopeful signals that economic activity is gradually strengthening with stronger growth, falling inflation, and narrowing fiscal imbalance.”

In Ghana, it would be recalled that the local economy took a nosedive in 2020 after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

It remained in a wobbling state for quite some time before the Russia-Ukraine war aggravated the case.

As part of measures to tame high inflation and stabilize the economy, the government on July 1, 2022, announced its decision to run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $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 the Government of Ghana and the IMF was reached in December 2022.

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

The first tranche of $600 million was received by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on Friday, May 19, 2023.

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

SA/MA

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