{ "title": "Ghana: Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility", "publication": "IMF Staff Country Reports, April 21, 2015", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865", "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865", "overlayPath": "/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865/index.md", "summary": "EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Context. The emergence of large fiscal and external imbalances in recent years, which led to a slowdown in growth, is putting Ghana’s medium-term prospects at risk.", "sections": [ { "heading": "Executive summary — Context and macroeconomic background", "content": "- Emergence of large fiscal and external imbalances in recent years led to a slowdown in growth and is putting Ghana’s medium-term prospects at risk.\n- Government efforts to achieve fiscal consolidation since mid-2013 were undermined by policy slippages, external shocks and rising interest cost.\n- Until mid-2014:\n - net international reserves position had further weakened,\n - the exchange rate depreciated sharply,\n - these developments fueled inflationary pressures.\n- Stabilization factors:\n - Eurobond issued in September (year not specified in the summary),\n - a short-term loan contracted by the Cocoa Board.\n- Despite stabilization, public debt continued to rise at an unsustainable pace." }, { "heading": "Extended Credit Facility (ECF) request", "content": "- The Ghanaian authorities requested a three-year arrangement under the ECF in an amount of SDR 664.20 million (180 percent of quota) in support of their medium-term economic reform program." }, { "heading": "Program framework — objectives and focal areas", "content": "- Program anchor:\n - The authorities’ three year ECF-supported program is anchored on the second Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA II).\n- Program aims:\n - restore debt sustainability through a sizeable and frontloaded fiscal adjustment,\n - rebuild external buffers,\n - eliminate fiscal dominance of monetary policy,\n - safeguard financial sector stability.\n- Key program focus areas:\n - Substantially strengthen the fiscal position by:\n - mobilizing additional revenues,\n - restraining the wage bill and other primary spending,\n - making space for priority spending.\n - Government is taking additional adjustment measures to help offset lower-than-budgeted oil revenue.\n - A prudent borrowing policy will complement fiscal consolidation efforts to restore debt sustainability.\n - Accelerate the reform agenda by:\n - strengthening public financial management and expenditure controls, in particular cleaning-up the payroll and enhancing wage bill control,\n - improving revenue collection through tax policy and tax administration reforms,\n - restoring the effectiveness of the inflation-targeting (IT) framework by eliminating fiscal dominance and enhancing monetary policy operations." }, { "heading": "Risks to the program", "content": "- Identified risks include:\n - delayed or partial implementation of policies, including next year in the run-up to elections,\n - a slower growth recovery if the electricity crisis is not addressed quickly,\n - additional negative commodity price shocks." }, { "heading": "Staff position", "content": "- IMF staff supports the authorities’ request for IMF support.\n- Emphasis: Forceful and sustained implementation of the program will be essential to address macroeconomic imbalances." }, { "heading": "Publication and metadata (as reported on the landing page)", "content": "- Publication title: Ghana: Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility\n- Date on page: April 21, 2015\n- Series: Country Report No. 2015/103\n- Issue: 103\n- Volume: 2015\n- Pages: 125\n- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484328255.002\n- Stock No: 1GHAEA2015001\n- ISBN: 9781484328255\n- ISSN: 1934-7685\n- Subjects: Expenditure, External debt, Labor, Public debt, Public financial management (PFM), Wages\n- Keywords: central bank financing, CR, creating flow, debt, deficit, financing, GDP, Global, headline CPI inflation, inflation expectation, ISCR, sovereign bond commitment, Sub-Saharan Africa, sustainability analysis, transformation objective, Wages\n\nSource: \"Ghana: Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility\", IMF Staff Country Reports 2015, 103 (2015), landing page content.\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- cr15103\n - cr15103 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n - cr15103 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865/bundle-manifest.json)", "Published: April 21, 2015", "Series: IMF Staff Country Reports", "DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484328255.002", "Emergence of large fiscal and external imbalances in recent years led to a slowdown in growth and is putting Ghana’s medium-term prospects at risk.", "Government efforts to achieve fiscal consolidation since mid-2013 were undermined by policy slippages, external shocks and rising interest cost.", "Until mid-2014:", "Stabilization factors:", "Despite stabilization, public debt continued to rise at an unsustainable pace.", "The Ghanaian authorities requested a three-year arrangement under the ECF in an amount of SDR 664.20 million (180 percent of quota) in support of their medium-term economic reform program.", "Program anchor:", "Program aims:", "Key program focus areas:", "Identified risks include:", "IMF staff supports the authorities’ request for IMF support.", "Emphasis: Forceful and sustained implementation of the program will be essential to address macroeconomic imbalances.", "Publication title: Ghana: Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility", "Date on page: April 21, 2015", "Series: Country Report No. 2015/103", "Issue: 103", "Volume: 2015", "Pages: 125", "DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484328255.002", "Stock No: 1GHAEA2015001", "ISBN: 9781484328255", "ISSN: 1934-7685", "Subjects: Expenditure, External debt, Labor, Public debt, Public financial management (PFM), Wages", "Keywords: central bank financing, CR, creating flow, debt, deficit, financing, GDP, Global, headline CPI inflation, inflation expectation, ISCR, sovereign bond commitment, Sub-Saharan Africa, sustainability analysis, transformation objective, Wages", "**_cr15103**" ], "related": [ { "title": "_cr15103", "role": "document", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2015/_cr15103.pdf", "summary": { "path": "/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2015/_cr15103.pdf.md", "mime": "text/markdown" }, "binary": { "path": "/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2015/_cr15103.pdf", "mime": "application/pdf" } } ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865/index.md", "json": "/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-14T08:19:49.086Z" }