IMF praises economy, says macroeconomic stability is now becoming entrenched

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised the Ghanaian economy, saying the growth rate has exceeded expectations. According to the Director of Communications, Julie Kozack, Ghana’s macroeconomic stability is now becoming entrenched, with the indicators pointing in the right direction. ” Ghana’s macroeconomic stability is now becoming entrenched, and our engagement with the authorities is now shifting from crisis response, which was really the focus of the previous programme, to supporting a consolidation of reforms and the building of longer-term resilience in the country”.

“We’ve also seen that Ghana’s economy has improved significantly. We’ve seen growth exceed expectations. Growth was 6.0 percent last year, and we project it at 5.7 percent this year. Ghana’s external position has strengthened. Its debt has fallen. Its debt-to-GDP ratio is now around 50 percent, and inflation is now in the single digits”, she added.

She continued that the fiscal position in Ghana is now strong, and the primary surplus is on track to meet the year-end targets. She also expressed happiness that Ghana has a very strong ownership of the reform programme that has been critical to ensuring it has been implemented. “It has been a homegrown programme which we have supported”. “We’ve also seen a willingness by the authorities to undertake some very difficult policy decisions.

The programme, the previous programme, was implemented in very difficult circumstances, but the authorities took the difficult decisions at that time, and those are now bearing fruit, as I said, in terms of stability and the strength of the economy”, Dr. Kozack said. Social Dialogue She also praised the government for its social dialogue, saying it held lots of engagement with key stakeholders on reforms, feedback and broader priorities for the country.

“And that has all helped to build support for the difficult reforms that the country had to take. And so that’s, I think, another key lesson is the importance of broader societal engagement, which was also done in Ghana”. She concluded that there is light at the end of the tunnel.