IMF team expected in Ghana on Wednesday July 6

The team is expected to meet officials of the Finance Ministry, the Economic Management Team and the Presidency during their one-week stay.

The IMF team will consist of senior officials from the Fund as well as local staff based here in Ghana.

Analysts suggest that it would take at least three months for a programme to be agreed upon between the parties.

Details of the bailout programme and its conditionalities will all be announced after the meeting.

Ghana’s decision to opt for an IMF programme has been greeted with mixed reactions, with concern about what it may mean for public sector jobs and social programmes.

On July 1, 2022, President Akufo-Addo authorised the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to commence formal engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A statement signed by the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the president’s directive to the Finance Minister followed a telephone conservation between President Akufo-Addo and the IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, conveying Ghana’s decision to engage with the Fund.

“The engagement with the IMF will seek to provide balance-of-payments support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana’s build-back in the face of challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and, recently, the Russia-Ukraine crises,” the statement read.