The second Review of Ghana’s three-year, $3bn IMF-Supported Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG) to be conducted by the IMF Staff has been scheduled for the 2nd – 12th April 2024, the Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, said on Tuesday.

The review follows the successful completion of the 1st Review of the Programme on 19th Jan 2024.

Dr Adam said during the Review, IMF mission would engage the authorities in technical and policy discussions.

This is to enable them to assess Ghana’s performance on programme objectives, the six Quantitative Performance Criteria, the three Indicative Targets (ITs), one Monetary Policy Consultation Clause (MPCC), and the Structural Benchmarks (SBs) concerning end December 2023 targets.

They will also review performance towards upcoming QPCs, ITs, and SBs.

The Minister said the approval of the second Review by the IMF Executive Board, possibly in June 2024, would trigger the release of the third tranche of $360 million, bringing the total disbursements so far under the programme to $1.56 billion.

The secod Review will be the first of the two semi-annual reviews programmed for 2024. The third Review has been programmed for November 2024.

Dr Adam said the Ministry was working with the BoG in preparation for the IMF 2nd Review Mission, adding that preliminary assessment undertaken by MoF and BoG showed that the country was on course to meet most of the targets under the Programme.

Dr Adam said the government would also fast-track the completion of the external debt restructuring programme, optimize the mobilisation of Domestic Revenue; and rein in expenditures through controls and rationalization.

He said the Government had received counterproposals on the debt treatment scenarios from the two bondholder groups and that in the coming weeks, Government and advisors would start extensive discussions with bondholder representatives to advance restructuring engagements following agreement with the Official Creditor Committee.

He reiterated the commitment of the government to stay on course in the implementation of the IMF-Supported programme and the World Bank-supported Development Policy Operations despite 2024 being an election year.

There will also be the implementation of the government’s growth strategy with a focus on improving SME productivity for growth and jobs, pursuing an inclusive approach to economic management through instituting: a Joint Economic Roundtable with the academia to discuss topical economic issues and a Ghana Development Forum (GDF) to bring various stakeholders together to discuss and build consensus on key interventions such as the IMF ECF Programme and Debt Restructuring Programme;

Dr Adam said the macroeconomic environment continued to remain stable and signs of economic recovery were emerging as the Government implemented the IMF-supported PC-PEG.

He said growth was proving to be more resilient and robust than initially programmed; inflation was on the decline and the exchange rate had largely stabilized.

Gross International Reserves are improving; the external balances, namely the current account balance and trade balance continue to improve; the fiscal consolidation is holding and the rate of accumulation of public debt is declining, following the good progress in the debt restructuring programme and the success of the fiscal consolidation agenda.

“This economic performance we are witnessing has been achieved through the cooperation and sacrifice of all Ghanaians. I take this opportunity to express the Government’s appreciation for the immense support,” he said.