The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ghana have agreed to a deal, according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who is confident this will happen before he presents the budget statement for the 2023 fiscal year to Parliament in November.
He claimed that the IMF Mission and the Ghana team are cooperating on 27/4 to ensure that the process moves more quickly.
He added that the team from the Ministry of Finance, which is currently in the United States for meetings with African finance ministers at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, would stay longer so that they could wrap up their discussions and negotiations.
According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, this is to give the team enough time to make some fair decisions regarding the outlook.
Mr. Ofori-Atta expressed confidence that the negotiations will be concluded before the release of the 2023 budget statement in an exclusive interview with TV3’s Sani Abdul-Rahman on the sidelines of the meeting with African Finance Ministers with the G7 as part of the ongoing World Bank/IMF Meetings in Washington, D.C.
“We still have work to do, and as you are aware, we will continue to do so even after the meetings of the World Bank and the Fund are over, possibly through the 20th.”
“We hope that will give us enough time to make some fair decisions about the future. I can attest to the Fund staff’s high level of motivation, which is commendable given that we work around the clock. This, along with our transparency regarding the work done to carry out the President’s promise, makes for a powerful combination.”
“The world is becoming aware that something different needs to be done if you look at how the discussion for this annual meeting turned out. We’re confident,” he emphasized.
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At a press conference on September 28th, Mr. Ofori-Atta promised that fast-track negotiations with the IMF would be conducted to ensure that key elements of the programme would be reflected in the budget statement for 2023.
The negotiations will move quickly, he said, “in line with the President’s dialogue with the IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, to ensure that key aspects of the programme are reflected in the 2023 Annual Budget Statement in November 2022.”
