## IMF Staff Concludes Visit to Ghana

_IMF News, February 10, 2017_

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: February 10, 2017

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### Mission overview
- A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Joël Toujas-Bernaté, visited Accra from February 6-10, 2017 to take stock of the 2016 economic developments and the outlook for 2017, engage in a dialogue about the new government’s economic plans, and discuss prospects for program engagement with the IMF.
- End-of-Mission press releases convey preliminary findings after a visit; the views expressed are those of IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. This mission will not result in a Board discussion.

### Economic developments and outlook
- Estimated economic growth in 2016: 3.6 percent (exceeded target of 3.3 percent).
- Inflation: decline has been slower than expected (no numeric headline provided).
- Current account deficit: narrowed to 6 ½ percent of GDP, contributing to a small buildup of foreign exchange reserves.

### Fiscal situation and public finance management (PFM)
- Overall fiscal deficit (on a cash basis) in 2016: deteriorated to an estimated 9 percent of GDP, instead of declining to 5¼ percent of GDP as envisaged under the IMF-supported program.
- Causes of fiscal deviation: poor oil and non-oil revenue performance and large expenditure overruns.
- Government debt: increased further to close to 74 percent of GDP at end-2016.
- Significant public spending commitments bypassed PFM systems were reported.
- IMF staff welcome the new government’s intention to conduct a full audit of outstanding obligations, its commitment to transparency, and readiness to take strong remedial actions to ensure the integrity of PFM systems going forward.
- Policy measures cited by authorities to support fiscal consolidation:
  - Reduce tax exemptions.
  - Improve tax compliance.
  - Review the widespread earmarking of revenues.

### State-owned enterprises and contingent liabilities
- Large financial imbalances of state-owned enterprises in the energy sector need to be addressed with urgency to avoid the buildup of contingent liabilities for the new government.
- The IMF welcomes the new government’s commitments to encourage departments and agencies to implement growth-enhancing reforms in a fiscally sustainable manner.

### Monetary policy and financial sector
- Bank of Ghana’s (BOG) monetary policy: instrumental in mitigating inflationary pressures in 2016.
- Adequately tight monetary policy will be important for containing possible further pressures in 2017.
- IMF welcomes BOG’s continued roll-out of the Roadmap for the banking sector and looks forward to actions that can:
  - Strengthen banks' balance sheets.
  - Contribute to a gradual reduction of the level of nonperforming loans.

### IMF engagement and program context
- The new government has expressed its intent to continue with the current program with the IMF.
- The mission looks forward to working closely with the new government to design required policies for restoring macroeconomic stability, high and sustainable growth, and job creation.
- Program context note:
  - At present Ghana has an Extended Credit Facility (ECF) supported by the IMF.
  - The arrangement for Ghana is in an amount equivalent to SDR 664.20 million (90 percent of quota or about US$900 million) and was approved on April 3, 2015.

### Meetings
- The mission met with H.E. Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia; Senior Minister Hon. Yaw Osafo-Maafo; Finance Minister Hon. Kenneth Ofori-Atta; Minister of Food and Agriculture Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto; Bank of Ghana Governor Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku; other senior officials; and Ghana’s development partners.

*Press Release No. 17/43 — February 10, 2017 (IMF Staff statement)*

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## References

- [Ghana and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/GHA/index.htm)
- [Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [Extended Credit Facility](http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/ecf.htm)
- [Press Release No.15/159](http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2015/pr15159.htm)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2017/02/10/pr1743-imf-staff-concludes-visit-to-ghana_