The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms Christine Lagarde, has observed that the Ghanaian economy is in a better place than it was two years ago.
She said the IMF-supported programme had been an anchor for orderly economic adjustment and a positive signal to the market.
During that period, Ms Lagarde said, the Ghanaian authorities had made important gains towards macroeconomic stability, including inflation, which had declined to a single digit and now within the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG’s) tolerance band; buoyant growth, averaging about five per cent between 2015 and 2018 (and over six per cent in 2017-18) and a primary surplus in 2017 for the first time in 15 years.
In an email response to the Daily Graphic’s questions ahead of her maiden visit to Ghana yesterday, Ms Lagarde said the programme, which ends this December, served as “an anchor for orderly economic adjustment and a positive signal to the market”.
She underscored the need for Ghana “to preserve those gains” for the progress of the country and the citizens in particular.
The IMF, founded in 1945, is a global body of 189-member countries, including Ghana.
Extended Credit Facility
The IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) provides financial assistance for countries with protracted balance of payment problems.
In 2015, the Ghana government entered into an agreement with the IMF for economic assistance.
The deal concluded with a funding support of $918 million to be disbursed to Ghana under eight tranches.
Some key issues of the credit facility included the freezing of public sector employment, reducing the budget deficit and zero financing of the budget deficit by the BoG.