## Ghana: Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility

_IMF Staff Country Reports, April 21, 2015_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Ghana: Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865)

## Other formats

- [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)

## Bibliographic details
- Published: April 21, 2015
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484328255.002

---

### Executive summary — Context and macroeconomic background
- 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:
  - net international reserves position had further weakened,
  - the exchange rate depreciated sharply,
  - these developments fueled inflationary pressures.
- Stabilization factors:
  - Eurobond issued in September (year not specified in the summary),
  - a short-term loan contracted by the Cocoa Board.
- Despite stabilization, public debt continued to rise at an unsustainable pace.

### Extended Credit Facility (ECF) request
- 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 framework — objectives and focal areas
- Program anchor:
  - The authorities’ three year ECF-supported program is anchored on the second Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA II).
- Program aims:
  - restore debt sustainability through a sizeable and frontloaded fiscal adjustment,
  - rebuild external buffers,
  - eliminate fiscal dominance of monetary policy,
  - safeguard financial sector stability.
- Key program focus areas:
  - Substantially strengthen the fiscal position by:
    - mobilizing additional revenues,
    - restraining the wage bill and other primary spending,
    - making space for priority spending.
  - Government is taking additional adjustment measures to help offset lower-than-budgeted oil revenue.
  - A prudent borrowing policy will complement fiscal consolidation efforts to restore debt sustainability.
  - Accelerate the reform agenda by:
    - strengthening public financial management and expenditure controls, in particular cleaning-up the payroll and enhancing wage bill control,
    - improving revenue collection through tax policy and tax administration reforms,
    - restoring the effectiveness of the inflation-targeting (IT) framework by eliminating fiscal dominance and enhancing monetary policy operations.

### Risks to the program
- Identified risks include:
  - delayed or partial implementation of policies, including next year in the run-up to elections,
  - a slower growth recovery if the electricity crisis is not addressed quickly,
  - additional negative commodity price shocks.

### Staff position
- 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 and metadata (as reported on the landing page)
- 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

*Source: "Ghana: Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility", IMF Staff Country Reports 2015, 103 (2015), landing page content.*

---

## Content in this bundle

- **_cr15103**
  - [_cr15103 (Markdown version)](/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2015/_cr15103.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [_cr15103 (PDF)](/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2015/_cr15103.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

---

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2016/12/31/ghana-request-for-a-three-year-arrangement-under-the-extended-credit-facility-42865_