Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, is predicting the end of May 2023 as the likely date for which the Board of the International Monetary Fund will approve a programme for Ghana. 

Fitch Solutions last week said Ghana’s staff-level agreement with the Fund will receive an executive board approval in the second quarter of 2023.

It said a Fund support programme will unlock critical financial assistance, shore up the country’s foreign exchange reserves and improve investor confidence.

Speaking to the media on developments about the economy from his base in the USA, Mr. Terkper said the month of May 2023 is practically feasible for Ghana to get a Fund-support programme.

“So if April [2023] is out then we are in May [2023], and there may be a rush of countries that will be pushing [for a Fund-support programme] – that may have concluded already - and may have had drafts being finalised for the board [IMF]. We haven’t had drafts yet as far as I know because we are still in the external debt restructuring”.

“There are fiscal economists [at IMF} dedicated in their mission whose focus is to look at fiscal developments and trends, published and unpublished about the countries. I didn’t see this in the budget [2023], but there were many prior actions. So that may come up maybe as additional prior actions or in terms of performance review there may be a discussion on it”, Mr. Terkper said.

He pointed out that even if the prior actions are completed and Ghana has agreement especially the external debt restructuring, “the entire document would have to be agreed by government as it goes through the Africa Department which is our regional department”.

“Then it may come back with questions which will be reviewed at which point the Memorandum of Economic Policy and the Letter of Intent will be signed by the Minister of Finance [Ken Ofor-Atta] and the Governor [Dr. Ernest Addison].

He therefore concluded the document would be ready to go to the board at that stage “and I think this are some of the considerations which may push us into optimistic May [2023]. Fitch Solutions may also have some intelligence suggesting so”.