President Akufo-Addo has reassured Ghanaians that the recent reshuffle at the Finance Ministry will not affect the country's deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On February 14, the President announced a ministerial reshuffle, with key institutions affected including the Finance Ministry.

Subsequently, there have been concerns about whether these changes will affect Ghana’s IMF deal.

But President Akufo-Addo has clarified that the new Finance Minister will continue to steer Ghana's economy towards recovery.

Delivering the State of the Nation Address on February 27, he said “Mr Speaker, it is important to underline that the recent change in the leadership of the Finance Ministry will not affect the Government’s commitment to implementing the terms agreed with the IMF to ensure that we restore the economy to healthy growth as soon as possible.”

• Read also: Akufo-Addo reshuffles finally: See who is in, who is out

The President also noted that during the economic turmoil, several areas of the economy were affected, including the cedi.

This, he said, impacted all sectors. However, there has been significant improvement and stability in these sectors, President Akufo-Addo added.

“Indeed, the macroeconomy was much stronger at the end of 2023 than in 2022. Inflation, which peaked at 54.1% in December 2022 has reduced to 23.5% in January 2024. Real GDP Growth for the first three quarters of 2023 averaged 2.8 percent, higher than the targeted growth rate of 1.5% for 2023.

“The cedi has been largely stable since February 2023, with a cumulative depreciation of nine percent (9%) between February and December 2023. Gross International Reserves reflected a significant buildup of at five-point-nine billion dollars (US$5.9 billion), enough to cover 2.7 months of imports of goods and services.

“The current account turned positive at 1.4% of GDP at the end of September 2023, from negative two-point-one percent (-2.1%) at the end of December 2022. Generally, the macroeconomic indicators are, once again, pointing in the right direction.”

Additionally, President Akufo-Addo said Ghana has made significant progress by reaching an agreement with public creditors.

“We are committed to concluding the external debt restructuring process as soon as possible, so we move past the crisis,” he stressed.

President Akufo-Addo also added that to be able to complete key projects, priority projects have been transferred onto the GOG budget within the same fiscal space.

Again, projects include the Kumasi International Airport, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) Maternity Block in Kumasi, the Takoradi Interchange, the Obetsebi-Lamptey Interchange in Accra, the University of Environment and Sustainable Development Project at Bunso in the Eastern Region, and the construction of the eighty-four-kilometre (84km) railway line between Tema and Akosombo, would also be completed.

Finally, he added that funding has been secured for the start and completion of the La General Hospital Project.