Ghana's
17th/18th IMF
Bailout

The Extended Credit Facility (ECF) provides financial support to help Ghana address balance of payments challenges and promote economic stability.

Type

ECF

Amount

$3 Billion

Duration

3 Years

Our Objectives

Macroeconomic stability

To heal the sick economy

Debt sustainability

To enable Ghana pay her debt

Economic growth

To grow the economy & care for the poor

Key Conditions of the IMF Bailout

IMF Lending

The ECF for Ghana outlined 5 key prior actions necessary for the approval of the program. These actions were to ensure that Ghana was taking the necessary steps to stabilize the economy and meet the IMF’s requirements.

Fiscal Consolidation Measures

Debt Restructuring

Strengthening Public Financial Management

Banking Sector Reforms

Energy Sector Reforms

How did we get here?

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Preamble

  • Failure to transform the Guggisberg inherited economy predicated on the export of primary commodities such as cocoa, gold, and lately oil making up over 80% of export earnings

  • Unproductive use of borrowed funds by governments sometimes with the tacit support of lenders across bilateral/multilateral and quasi-commercial creditors

  • Higher borrowing costs (reflecting also the excessive opportunism by wealthy lenders or predatory lending from the global north as well as the domestic market (as evidenced by the African risk premium))

  • Fiscal indiscipline, election-related excesses, covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine, inflation, and exchange rate development

  • The false hope of endowed fiscal space as a result of rebasing of the economy and the conferment of middle-income status

Key Timeline

  • 2019
    Ghana's Economic Fragility
    The First Tremors of Financial Strain
  • 2020
    Pandemic Pressures
    COVID-19 Derails Economic Stability.
  • 2021
    Debt Spiral
    Debt levels become unsustainable.
  • 2022
    Seeking a Lifeline
    Government announces intention to seek IMF support.
  • 2023
    Turning Point
    IMF approves US$3 billion bailout package

National Conversation on Economic Sustainability

As a nation, we urgently need to have an honest national conversation and decide on a collective action on building a more sustainable economy beyond IMF bailouts!