Ghana and IMF agree second loan payment of $600 million

Ghana has come to an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on the terms for a second payment of $600 million out of its $3-billion credit deal.

In a statement that the IMF released, it revealed that payment of the second portion of Ghana’s loan will come after the IMF board’s final approval and bring the total disbursed since May to $1.2 billion,

It was in December when the country signed a deal with the IMF as it was looking to shore up its public finances and better manage debt to emerge from its worst economic crisis in decades.

At the end of his team’s review in Accra, in a statement, the IMF mission chief Stephane Roudet said: “The authorities have adjusted macroeconomic policies, successfully completed their domestic debt restructuring operation, and launched wide-ranging reforms. These actions are already generating positive results.”

The statement also went on to say that Ghana will have access to about $600 million in financing once the mission’s review is approved by the board. The country’s economic situation will be a major election campaign theme as it heads to the ballot box next year with President Nana Akufo-Addo stepping down after two terms.

Earlier this week, a large number of opposition protesters rallied in Ghana’s capital Accra to denounce the economic crisis, blaming it on the central bank governor’s policies.

Ghana also has oil and gas reserves, however, its debt load has expanded and like other sub-Saharan African nations it struggled with the economic fallout from the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.