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IMF reaches staff-level agreement with Ghana for $360m fourth tranche
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ghana have reached a staff-level agreement on the third review of Ghana’s US$ 3 billion extended credit facility.
It follows the conclusion of a two-week assessment of the country’s fiscal data by a mission staff from the Fund. The review saw the team assessing Ghana’s performance per targets and structural benchmarks as at end of June 2024.
The staff-level agreement was reached after what the Fund described as “programme performance has been generally satisfactory, with remarkable progress on debt restructuring.”
It is however subject to the approval of the IMF Board for the fourth tranche of US$360 million. This tranche if approved will bring Ghana’s total disbursements to US$ 1.92 billion dollars.
“The IMF staff and Ghanaian authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the third review of Ghana’s economic program under the Extended Credit Facility arrangement,” Stéphane Roudet, IMF mission staff to Ghana told the media on Friday.
“Performance under the IMF-supported program has been generally satisfactory. All end-June 2024 quantitative targets were met, and progress on key structural reforms has continued notwithstanding delays in a few areas. The authorities’ policy and reform efforts under the program have continued to deliver encouraging results,” he added.
Ghana recently achieved a 98% participation and consent solicitation from Eurobond holders in the restructuring of the country’s external debt.
Ghana has made remarkable progress on its public debt restructuring. After successfully restructuring domestic debt last year and reaching agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding with Ghana’s Official Creditors Committee (OCC) under the G20 Common Framework in June.
The government has just announced the successful completion of the consent solicitation to restructure its Eurobonds, with the exchange planned to take place in the coming weeks.
The authorities are committed to pursuing good-faith efforts to reach an agreement with other commercial external creditors on a debt treatment consistent with programme parameters and the comparability of treatment principles.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
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We have built enough buffers to pay all DDEP obligations – Finance Minister Ato Forson
Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has assured banks that the government has built sufficient financial buffers to meet all Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) obligations this year.
Speaking at a high-level meeting with over 22 Managing Directors of banks, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and restoring confidence in the financial sector.
“We do not intend to default,” Dr. Forson declared.
“All outstanding holdouts have been paid, and we have put in place the necessary buffers to ensure that every single DDEP obligation for this year will be met.”
The Minister explained that these buffers were created through fiscal discipline, strategic investment cuts, and prudent resource allocation.
As part of this approach, the government has reset goods and services expenditure to 2023 levels and is working to achieve a primary surplus of 1.5% to sustain economic stability.
He also announced plans to submit a fiscal responsibility rule to Parliament, which will set a debt ceiling that the Ministry of Finance cannot exceed.
This measure aims to prevent excessive borrowing and reinforce financial discipline.
Beyond ensuring timely DDEP payments, Dr Forson revealed that the government is taking deliberate steps to reduce reliance on the Treasury bill market.
By improving coordination between fiscal and monetary policies, the government aims to stabilize interest rates and ease liquidity pressures on the banking sector.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
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NSA commences President Mahama’s ‘Nkoko Nkitikiti’ vision
President Mahama’s Vision in Progress as the National Service Authority has received 10,000 “Nkoko Nkitikiti” (Day Old Chicks ) earlier this morning.
Their ongoing 100,000 Poultry infrastructure will be receiving 10,000 Day Old Chicks every few weeks until they hit their 100,000 mark for Broilers at a site in NSA Demonstration farm in Accra.
NSA is working assiduously nationwide with partners to put the infrastructure in place for hundreds of thousands of Poultry Capacity for Broilers in clusters.
Egg production is also top of their agenda in separate projects. NSA is currently putting in place the infrastructure that will receive thousands of layers in President Mahama’s quest to bring down the cost of eggs.
They expect to expand their poultry capacity base in furtherance of President Mahama’s vision to reduce the importation of poultry products and create employment
