In Accra, the authorities will be able to breathe. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday approved a three-billion-dollar loan for Ghana, a West African country that is going through a severe economic crisis, with an immediate first disbursement of about $600 million.

The program, endorsed by the IMF's Executive Board, is a 36-month program under the Extended Credit Facility. It aims to "restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, as well as implement far-reaching reforms to build resilience and lay the foundations for stronger and more inclusive growth," commented the Fund's Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva.

Structural reforms sought by the IMF

According to her, "fiscal consolidation is a central element of the programme" as is "preserving the stability of the financial sector". In addition, "monetary and exchange rate policies under the program will focus on controlling inflation and rebuilding foreign exchange reserves."

Finally, "an ambitious structural reform program is being put in place to reinvigorate private sector-led growth by improving the business environment, governance and productivity."

Exploding debt burden

On Friday, the IMF announced that Ghana had provided sufficient guarantees to benefit from an aid plan, welcoming the recent promise of its creditor countries, led by France and China, to open negotiations for a restructuring of its debt.

Weakened in particular by the repercussions of the war in Ukraine, Ghana had decided to appeal to the IMF and had concluded in December with the institution a pre-agreement to obtain $ 3 billion in loans spread over three years and conditional on the implementation of economic reforms. A major producer of cocoa and gold, the country also has gas and oil reserves, but its debt burden has exploded, as in other sub-Saharan African countries, under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian conflict.

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  • Ghana
  • IMF
  • Debt
  • Debt crisis