Press Release No. 10/28

Press Release: IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky to Visit Liberia and Ghana

February 10, 2010

Mr. John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will visit Monrovia, Liberia, on February 14-16, and Accra, Ghana, on February 16-17, for discussions with policy makers and key opinion leaders on the countries’ economic prospects.

In Monrovia, Mr. Lipsky will be meeting with the government of Liberia and parliamentarians, as well as the international community and the private sector. These discussions will focus on actions to help Liberia overcome the impact of the financial crisis, foster growth and to complete the IMF-supported debt reduction initiative. Mr. Lipsky will also meet students at the University of Liberia.

In Accra, Mr. Lipsky will meet with Ghana's political leaders and economic team to discuss the country’s prospects in the context of the authorities’ current economic program, which is supported by the Fund under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF)¹. He will also discuss Ghana’s preparations for the next development in its economy—oil production. Mr. Lipsky will address members of parliament and participate in a roundtable discussion with civil society organizations.

In both countries, Mr. Lipsky will discuss how African countries have been impacted by the global economic crisis, how they have responded to it, and how the IMF can partner with them to support their return to sustainable growth and development. Over the past year, the IMF has significantly increased assistance to African countries to help deal with the effects of the financial crisis and streamlined its concessional lending to low-income countries, most of which are in Africa.