The arrival of the IMF team follows government’s announcement on Friday, July 1, 2022, that it had decided to engage the Fund on balance of payment support because of the global economic meltdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
The crises have resulted in high inflation, fuel price hikes, depreciation of the local currency and eroded the country’s foreign reserves and buffers.
Minister for information said the Taskforce that would engage the Fund during the negotiations would be chaired by President Akufo-Addo and hoped to secure about two billion dollars from the Fund to shore up reserves and build buffers to mitigate the plight of Ghanaians.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said there was one billion dollars from the international capital market ready for the country to access but it would require parliamentary approval.
The Minister added that IMF support alone would not be sufficient to deal with the current economic challenges and that there was the need for domestic resource mobilisation and increase in production by industries to reduce importation of goods.
He conceded that government’s decision to seek IMF support had not been an easy one but government took that bold step in the best interest of the public for the economy to bounce back quickly from the global economic difficulties.
