The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised Ghana to preserve the integrity of the fiscal policy adjustment to bolster the economic recovery.

According to the Fund, this is predicated on timely and continued efforts to further strengthen revenue administration, bolster public financial management, and improve State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) management, including by decisively tackling challenges in the energy and cocoa sectors.

In a statement after the Executive Board completed the Fourth Review under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement with Ghana, the Fund said ambitious structural reforms to help create an environment more conducive to private sector investment, and to enhance governance and transparency, remain key to boosting the economy’s potential and underpinning sustainable job creation.

It commended the government (Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana) for making headway on their public debt restructuring, highlighting the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ghana’s Official Creditors Committee (OCC) under the G20 Common Framework.  The focus is now on finalising the bilateral agreements to implement the MoU.

“The authorities are also pursuing good-faith efforts toward reaching agreements with other commercial creditors on debt treatments that are in line with program parameters and the comparability of treatment principles”, it added.

Against the backdrop of these policy actions and the progress on debt restructuring, the Fund pointed out that Ghana’s credit rating has been upgraded by key international credit rating agencies.

Going forward, it wants Ghana to stay the course of macroeconomic policy adjustment and reforms, which it described as essential to fully and durably restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, while fostering a sustainable increase in economic growth and poverty reduction.