IMF Executive Board Completes the Sixth Review of Ghana’s Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility, Concludes the 2026 Article IV Consultation, and Reviews Request of a 36-Month Policy Coordination Instrument for Ghana
IMF News, July 27, 2026
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- IMF Executive Board Completes the Sixth Review of Ghana’s Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility, Concludes the 2026 Article IV Consultation, and Reviews Request of a 36-Month Policy Coordination Instrument for Ghana
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- Published: July 27, 2026
Overview and program decisions
- The Executive Board completed the sixth and final review of Ghana's 39-month Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and concluded the 2026 Article IV consultation.
- The Board reviewed, at the authorities' request, a 36-month non-financing Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI).
- Completion of the review allows for a final disbursement of SDR 265.9 million (about US$371 million), bringing Ghana's total disbursements under the arrangement to about US$3 billion.
- The Board approved a waiver of non-observance of the end-December 2025 performance criterion on the ceiling on Bank of Ghana (BoG) claims on the central government and public entities, temporarily breached by a small margin due to cost-sharing arrangements under the domestic gold purchase program (DGPP), based on the temporary nature of the deviation and corrective actions by the authorities.
- The PCI is intended to anchor Ghana's reform agenda beyond the ECF and to help catalyze donor and market financing by signaling commitment to upper-credit-tranche-quality policies.
Macroeconomic outcomes (recent) and short-term outlook
- Real GDP growth: 6 percent in 2025; accelerated to 6.4 percent year-on-year in 2026Q1.
- Headline inflation: 5.4 percent at end-2025; 5.3 percent in June 2026.
- Current account: a large surplus of 7.9 percent of GDP in 2025 (supported by historically high gold prices).
- Gross international reserves: nearly doubled to US$11.9 billion (4 months of imports) by end-2025.
- Primary fiscal balance: swung to a surplus of 2.1 percent of GDP in 2025.
- Debt distress: risk of external and overall debt distress upgraded to moderate, two years earlier than expected at program approval.
Debt restructuring and debt sustainability
- Significant progress on comprehensive public debt restructuring:
- Debt relief agreements consistent with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) agreement signed with more than half of bilateral creditors.
- Agreements-in-principle reached with a similar share of external commercial creditors.
- Good-faith engagement with the remaining external commercial creditors is ongoing, with restructuring consistent with program parameters and comparability of treatment.
- Ghana’s debt risk rating upgraded to moderate in light of progress and stabilization gains.
- Ghana’s debt anchor: target of 45 percent of GDP by 2034.
Fiscal policy, budget, and public debt projections
- 2026 budget targets a primary surplus of 1.5 percent of GDP, consistent with program objectives and Ghana's new fiscal responsibility framework.
- Staff note that recent improvements in the debt trajectory have created calibrated fiscal space under the PCI to address development needs and strengthen social spending while preserving the 45 percent of GDP debt anchor by 2034.
- Lowering the primary surplus to 0.5 percent of GDP from 2027 would remain consistent with safeguarding debt sustainability, provided further progress in:
- Strengthening domestic revenue mobilization;
- Improving public financial management and investment management;
- Enhancing state-owned enterprise oversight—particularly in the energy and cocoa sectors.
- Public debt (gross) projections (percent of GDP): 70.1 (2024 actual); 56.6 (2025 5th ECF Review); 48.8 (2026 Prel.); 54.9 (2027); 52.6 (2028); 52.7 (2029); 51.7 (2030); 50.6 (2031); 49.9; 48.9; 48.0 (as shown in the projection table).
Monetary policy, reserves, and central bank governance
- The Bank of Ghana has cautiously eased its monetary policy stance as inflation fell within its target range.
- In collaboration with Fund staff, the BoG operationalized a foreign exchange operations framework to intermediate foreign exchange flows, smooth excessive market volatility, and support continued reserve accumulation.
- Safeguarding central bank independence is emphasized as critical to sustaining monetary policy credibility, including by:
- Implementing the transfer of the DGPP to GoldBod;
- Permanently discontinuing quasi-fiscal activities;
- Fulfilling the commitment to recapitalize the BoG by 2032.
Financial sector resilience and governance
- Financial sector resilience has continued to improve, but vulnerabilities persist, particularly in:
- Some state-owned banks;
- Some private banks;
- Specialized deposit-taking institutions.
- Required actions to safeguard financial stability:
- Sustained supervisory action and decisive corrective measures;
- Finalization of the crisis management and resolution framework.
- Governance and anti-corruption reforms have advanced, including submission to Parliament of the revised Conduct of Public Officials bill.
- Timely and effective implementation of the reformed asset-declaration framework is critical to strengthen transparency, accountability, and public trust.
Key projections and selected indicators (highlights from the table)
- Real GDP at constant prices: 5.8 (2024 Actual); 4.8 (5th ECF Review); 6.0 (2025 Prel.); 4.9 (2026 proj.); 5.0 (2027 proj.).
- Non-extractive GDP: 5.3 (2024 Actual); 7.0 (2025 Prel.); 4.4 (2026 proj.); 5.1 (2027 proj.).
- Extractive GDP: 9.4 (2024 Actual); 1.7 (2025 Prel.); -0.9 (2026 proj.); 4.2 (2027 proj.).
- Real GDP per capita: 3.9 (2024 Actual); 2.9 (5th ECF Review); 4.0 (2025 Prel.); 3.0 (2026 proj.); 3.1 (2027 proj.).
- GDP deflator and CPI projections and past values included in the table (CPI end of period: 23.8 (2024), 8.0 (2025), 5.4 (2026 Prel.)).
- Central government revenue and expenditure (percent of GDP) and balances are detailed in the table (Revenue: 15.8 (2024 Actual); 16.0 (5th ECF Review); 15.7 (2025 Prel.); 16.8 (2026 proj.); Expenditure (commitment basis): 21.8 (2024 Actual); 18.4 (5th ECF Review); 17.0 (2025 Prel.); 18.8 (2026 proj.); Overall balance (commitment basis): -6.0 (2024 Actual); -2.4 (5th ECF Review); -1.3 (2025 Prel.); -2.0 (2026 proj.)).
- Gross international reserves (program, US$ million): 6,518 (2024); 8,625 (2025); 11,906 (2026 Prel.); subsequent projections shown in the table through 2031.
- Memorandum: Nominal GDP (millions of GHc) shown across 2024–31 in the table (e.g., 1,182,799 (2024); 1,414,480 (2025); 1,434,115 (2026 Prel.); 1,595,869 (2027)).
Executive Board assessment and policy priorities
- The Board assessed Ghana's performance under the ECF-supported program as broadly satisfactory, with sustained reform efforts and favorable commodity prices delivering stabilization and debt-sustainability gains.
- Priority policy areas going forward under the PCI:
- Maintain fiscal discipline while addressing development, social, and security needs and safeguarding debt sustainability consistent with Ghana’s debt anchor;
- Strengthen domestic revenue mobilization;
- Improve public financial management and investment management;
- Enhance state-owned enterprise oversight, particularly in energy and cocoa sectors;
- Strengthen social protection for the most vulnerable;
- Safeguard central bank independence, complete DGPP transfer to GoldBod, discontinue quasi-fiscal activities, and deliver BoG recapitalization by 2032;
- Continue supervisory actions, corrective measures, and finalize crisis management and resolution framework for the financial sector;
- Advance governance reforms, including enactment of the reformed Conduct of Public Officials bill and implementation of the asset-declaration framework.
IMF Executive Board press release, July 27, 2026.