The long awaited and anticipated $3 billion loan fund from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has finally been approved, clearing doubts of experts who had low optimism concerning the timeline of May 17, 2023.
The Executive Board of the IMF has approved the three-year extended loan line for Ghana – as the West African country attempts to recover from its worst economic crisis in a decade.
Experts familiar with the process disclosed that the IMF deal was a significant step forward for Ghana, but that the West African country still faced a lengthy road of negotiations and collaboration with its creditors.
The Executive Board met to discuss the approval for the funding today, Wednesday, 17th May, 2023.
Ghana’s request was not immediately granted by the IMF Board. Her official sector creditors formed a committee co-chaired by China and France and agreed to debt restructuring talks. This prepared the door for the IMF loan to be approved at the staff level in December.
More so, Ghana negotiated its international debt rework under the Group of 20’s Common Framework platform and completed a domestic debt exchange earlier this year.
The West African country concluded a domestic debt exchange earlier this year and negotiated its international debt restructuring through the Group of 20’s Common Framework platform.
Experts Doubted May 17 Approval Deadline
Some financial experts and economists questioned the timeline regarding the approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) support programme, and the arrival of the first tranche of the $3 billion Balance of Payment support for Ghana.
According to them, after receiving all applicable financial assurances, the IMF Board may take some time to approve a financing deal for a member nation.
This was in contrast to some official comments claiming that Ghana may gain board clearance by Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
One expert, Dr. John Kwakye, Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs, noted that his checks with the IMF Board Meeting Schedule indicated that Ghana is not on the agenda of the IMF Board for this week and even next week.
The Director went further to challenge policy makers to share the IMF Board Meeting Schedule if they had.
Still in doubts, Bright Simons, Vice President of Imani Africa, also stated that it takes between two weeks and one month to finalize the country’s document and subsequently submitted to the board for approval.
“Usually after receiving all relevant financing assurances (where this is a precondition for a programme), it takes between two weeks and one month to finalise the country dossier and submit to the board for approval. Ghana says No, it wants all that done TOMORROW! Country!”
Bright Simons
