Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has announced that the International Monetary Fund/World Bank and the Ghana Team are currently undertaking a debt sustainability analysis (DSA) to inform the economic programme negotiations ongoing.
Ghanaian officials are presently negotiating with the IMF to pursue an economic programme that will last not less than three years.
Speaking at a press briefing on September 28th, 2022, Mr. Ofori-Atta said the IMF and Government Team are working to update the medium-term macro-fiscal framework to inform IMF programme design.
Also, he stressed that the Government Team and the IMF Team are discussing policy measures and structural reforms proposed in our economic programme aimed at addressing the economic challenges facing the country towards restoring and sustaining macroeconomic stability, fiscal and debt sustainability, as well as promoting durable and inclusive growth and social protection.
“We simply have not reached any agreement with the Fund on the parameters of any debt operations as we are in the process of completing the debt sustainability analysis. Government shall continue to actively engage all stakeholders in a clear and transparent manner as we seek to fast-track the IMF negotiation process”, he mentioned.
Furthermore, he said Ghana needs a viable domestic financial system to support its development programme, especially in these three years with limited access to the International Capital Market.
“Therefore, everything must, and will be done, to protect our financial sector; and there must 6 be room for a win-win conversation through extensive stakeholder engagement with both our domestic and external investors. Ghana has always had a collaborative approach with its partners and we shall, I am confident, come out with a ‘historic arrangement’”, he added.
Finance Minister to announce 5-member committee as part of moves to protect the financial system
Meanwhile, the Minister says a 5-Member Committee consisting of prominent financial services professionals to lead extensive stakeholder engagements across all the key segments of the financial sector – banking, asset, management, pensions, and insurance – as part of moves to protect the financial system.
The announcement of the Committee Members is expected to be made in the coming days.
According to him, the committee will immediately get to work to engage key stakeholders in the financial services sector, in addition to ongoing engagements with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), social partners (labour unions, employers, and FBOs), academia, industry professionals, and the leadership of Parliament.
This, he says, is the government ambition to protect the financial sector.
“This is a Government that protected the savings of 4.6million Ghanaian depositors with the reform of the Banking and financial sector even in our early days. We owe it to the economy and Ghanaians to keep protecting it”,
“The sanctity and the well-functioning of the financial system are sacrosanct, and we need the support and trust of all Ghanaians to deliver this.” Let us join hands to get this done. “The great Celtic Miracle in Ireland in the 1980s was the result of such collaborations, especially with Labour, and we shall also be blessed with the Ghana Miracle,” he added.
Source: Business Analyst