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The IMF AFRITAC South technical assistance mission of May 2026 assisted Statistics South Africa in strengthening seasonal adjustment practices for short-term economic indicators and quarterly national accounts. The mission emphasized harmonization between source statistics and QNA estimates, the regular review and implementation of seasonal adjustment parameters, and routine testing for residual seasonality in published aggregates. It recommended applying the principles of parsimony, consistency, and coherence, particularly when using prior corrections and managing COVID-19 and Black Friday effects. The mission also encouraged Stats SA to evaluate JDemetra+ and rJDemetra as modern tools for diagnostics, automation, reproducibility, and bulk review processes, including the development of RShiny applications. Additional recommendations included publishing seasonally adjusted electricity statistics, strengthening collaboration with the South African Reserve Bank on labour market indicators, updating seasonal adjustment guidelines, developing revision and adjustment frameworks, and building technical capacity through training and a time series expert user group.
This Technical Assistance Report reviews Ghana’s progress in strengthening the governance, financial oversight, fiscal risk management, and investment practices of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Over the past decade, significant reforms have been implemented, including the establishment of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) as a centralized ownership entity, the adoption of the State Ownership Policy, and improvements in fiscal risk monitoring. However, major challenges remain, with SOE liabilities continuing to grow, fiscal risks concentrated in a small number of large entities, and persistent losses in the energy and commodity sector SOEs weighing on public finances. This report assesses Ghana’s SOE landscape, fiscal risks, governance arrangements, and infrastructure investment practices and proposes a set of priority reforms to strengthen oversight of macro-critical SOEs, integrate fiscal risk reporting into the budget process, improve data sharing between the Ministry of Finance and SIGA, enhance governance and board appointment practices, and strengthen oversight of SOE-led infrastructure investments. Implementing these measures would help improve SOE financial sustainability, reduce fiscal risks, strengthen governance and accountability, and improve SOE performance for the benefit of Ghana’s economy and public finances.
Remarks by Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director, at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brussels, Belgium
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