Govt to conclude negotiations with IMF in February – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has hinted that Ghana will probably secure the financial bailout it is seeking from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the middle of February 2023.

He said everything that is required of Ghana to do or submit in order to reach an agreement with the Fund has been done, and he is optimistic the processes should be finalized by next month.

Speaking at a meeting with some African-American students from the Harvard Business School at the Jubilee House, president Akufo-Addo said Ghana’s economy has suffered greatly in recent times compelling Ghana to run to the IMF for the bailout.

“We’ve had difficulties in the past few years trying to reposition our economy to grow again. Some basic statistics that all of you are familiar with have pushed us back; the energy sector crisis, the global food crisis, and many others and Ghana is yet to escape from all of these crises.

“We are going through the processes with the International Monetary Fund right now and hopefully by the middle of this month or February, a full-blown IMF programme will be put in place which will help us repair our public finances which took a big hit from external forces.”

The government in December 2022 reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of processes leading to a bailout.

Ghana is seeking to secure $3 billion from the IMF to complement the revenue shortfalls and to service its external debt.

Ghana has gone to the IMF for the seventeenth time seeking to get help to solve the country’s balance of payment challenges.