President John Dramani Mahama has clarified that his administration has not discussed an extension of Ghana’s $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Mahama emphasized his government’s commitment to staying on course with the current programme. “We’ve not talked about an extension of the programme. We are determined to continue with this programme,” he stated.
He emphasized that the government’s immediate priority was fiscal discipline and prudent financial management.
“If it’s necessary to look at additional funds or to extend the programme, we’ll look at it, but for now, we are determined to continue on this trajectory,” he added.
President Mahama underscored the importance of cutting wasteful expenditures and prioritizing essential projects as part of his administration’s strategy to achieve economic stability within the IMF framework.
“I think that it means that we must be more prudent in our handling of our finances. We must also look on the expenditure side and see how we can cut waste and also shift resources to more priority programmes, and so it’s a whole basket that we are looking at,” he explained.
His comments come as officials from the IMF met with Ghana’s newly appointed Finance Minister last week to review progress on the programme and ensure compliance with agreed economic reforms.
Ghana’s $3 billion IMF programme, approved on May 17, 2023, is set to run for three years and focuses on structural reforms, debt management, and fiscal prudence to restore economic stability.
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