Press Release No. 16/385

IMF Statement on Ghana

August 30, 2016

In response to press requests, Mr. Joël Toujas-Bernate, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief for Ghana, issued the following statement today:

“A visiting IMF staff team in Accra last May assessed the implementation of the program to be broadly satisfactory and identified a few areas where further work and discussions were needed before the third review under the Extended Credit Facility-supported program could be completed. Since then several important legislations have been adopted by Parliament, including the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Bill, the Deposit Insurance Bill, the Public Finance Management Law and the Amended Bank of Ghana Act. The authorities have also initiated discussions to address pressures that have emerged in the main State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in the energy sector.

“Discussions between staff and the authorities are currently ongoing to update macroeconomic projections, firm up the fiscal outlook for the remainder of 2016 and ascertain that financial pressures in SOEs will not pose additional risks to the central government budget. Subject to a quick and positive conclusion of these discussions, staff expects the third program review to be considered by the IMF Executive Board around mid-September.”