We're hopeful of securing the IMF bailout soon - John Kumah

He said talks with the Bretton-Wood institution have progressed fruitfully and board-level approval of the loan will happen soon.

Addressing the media in Parliament, he said: “Ghana is very hopeful, the Minister for Finance just returned from the spring meeting from the US and took the opportunity to meet our bilateral partners and multilateral partners and I can say that we are very hopeful that we will secure the Paris Club financing agreement very soon.”

“I’m unable to give timelines, but I can assure you that discussions are going very well and very soon Ghana will get the good news.”

Earlier in the week, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo pleaded with the Japanese government to aid Ghana to secure the bailout.

The president made the appeal during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Jubilee House on Tuesday.

President Akufo-Addo said Japan, a member of the Paris Club, has a major role to play in Ghana securing the deal from the IMF.

Ghana can only get the deal after securing the needed financing assurances from the gold, oil and cocoa-producing country's bilateral partners, most of them being members of the Paris Club.

“Ghana is also counting on the support of Japan in reaching a favourable agreement with the International Monetary Fund which will pave the way for the robust recovery of Ghana’s economy,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Meanwhile, the London-based Economic Intelligence Unit has predicted that the board of the International Monetary Fund is likely to approve the US$3 billion extended credit facility for Ghana by mid-2023.