Ghana to request extension of IMF programme to Dec 2018: Sources

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Ghana's government will ask the International Monetary Fund to extend its support programme to December 2018 from April 2018 to boost efforts to stabilize the economy, senior government sources said on Monday.

An extension would reassure markets and also likely bring in additional IMF funds to a programme under which Ghana was initially set to receive $918 million over three years, the sources told Reuters.

The deal was agreed by the previous government to restore stability to an economy that slowed sharply in 2014 due to a fiscal crisis and lower global prices for Ghana's oil and gold exports.

Any request for extension would represent a change of course for the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo, which said after coming to power in January that it wanted the programme to end on time.

"The programme is going to be extended until December 2018," said a senior government source who declined to be identified.

His comment was echoed by other government sources.

The IMF said last week it had suggested to the government that it request an extension.

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