Economist, Dr Theo Acheampong, has said government will not be able to secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before the year ends.
He attributed the impossible December deadline to the rising debt of the country amidst its economic challenges.
Speaking on Citi TV’s Big Issues programme and monitored by GhanaWeb, the
Read full articleeconomist opined that government has to restructure its debt before finalizing the deal with the Bretton Woods institution.
The timeframe for this exercise, Dr Theo Acheampong said, was too short, and that realistically, Ghana can conclude its deal with IMF by the first quarter of 2023.
"The most important thing is how to bring your creditors together to restructure the debt. That is what could potentially actually extend the duration of the engagement exercise and that then means that the December timelines that we were looking at to conclude the IMF deal may actually slip a little bit," he said,
"From where I sit, we only have barely three months to conclude all of this. [debt sustainability analysis] and given past experience, I struggle to see how we will conclude the debt sustainability analysis and then sit down with the creditors and agree on some sort of debt restructuring package and eventually goes to the IMF board for approval and the programme itself signed off. I think we are looking probably in about 6 months time period which may go into first quarter of next year," the economist added.
On September 5, 2022, the Managing Director of IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, stated that a deal between Ghana and the IMF should be reached and finalized before the end of the year.
In a closed-door meeting with the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, IMF boss said, “we understand the urgency, and we will move as quickly as possible.”
She reiterated the determination of the Fund to work with the Government of Ghana and ensure that there is an agreement before the end of the year.
The IMF programme, government said, is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and safeguarding debt sustainability among many others.
Meanwhile, Ghana is targeting an amount of $3 billion over three years from the IMF once an agreement on a programme is reached.
The new amount requested as a loan is double the government’s initial target of $1.5 billion.
Economist, Dr Theo Acheampong
