By: Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
President Akufo-Addo during his penultimate State of the Nation Address on February 27, 2024 reiterated government’s commitment in continuing the conditionalities given the country by the International Monetary Fund, IMF.
On February 14, 2024, the President made some significant reshuffling in his ministers which saw the longest serving Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta exiting a post which has had his tail on fire both from his party people and the opposition. He was replaced by Dr. Amin Adams who served as Minister of State at the Finance Ministry prior to his appointment.
His appointment raised questions on whether or not the conditionalities set by the IMF for Ghana will still be kept or be forfeited. In a bid to clear the confusion, the President in his address to Parliament stated emphatically that Dr. Amin Adams appointment will not halt the country’s adherence to the IMF’s conditionalities.
“Mr Speaker, it is important to underline that the recent change in the leadership of the Finance Ministry will not affect Government’s commitment to implementing the terms agreed with the IMF to ensure that we restore the economy to healthy growth as soon as possible”, he said.
President Akufo-Addo mentioned that, Ghana’s economic growth is seeing some right direction with the growth of the macroeconomy , reduction in inflation, real GDP growth and Cedi stabilization. He said the indicators clearly point that the economy is on the right path of recovery after it met its unexpected shocks.
“Generally, the macroeconomic indicators are, once again, pointing in the right direction.Indeed, the macroeconomy was much stronger at the end of 2023 than in 2022. Inflation, which peaked at 54.1% in December 2022 has reduced to 23.5% in January 2024. Real GDP Growth for the first three quarters of 2023 averaged 2.8 percent, higher than the targeted growth rate of 1.5% for 2023. The cedi has been largely stable since February 2023, with a cumulative depreciation of nine percent (9%) between February and December 2023. Gross International Reserves reflected a significant buildup of at five-point-nine billion dollars (US$5.9 billion), enough to cover 2.7 months of imports of goods and services. The current account turned positive at 1.4% of GDP at the end of September 2023, from negative two-point-one percent (-2.1%) at the end of December 2022”, he added.
