The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended Ghana for its commitment to the fund-supported program.
Director Kristalina Georgieva commended Ghana during the Spring IMF-World Bank Meeting that took place last week.
She made this commendation when she met with the Finance Minister and the Bank of Ghana Governor.
Revealing this in a post shared via social media, the Finance Minister said “Today at the #IMFmeetings, I had an excellent meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, alongside the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama.
The IMF Boss commended our strong commitment to the Fund-supported program and the reforms we are implementing to restore macroeconomic stability.
We appreciate the IMF’s continued partnership and support for Ghana’s economic recovery and growth”.
The Minister highlighting some of the measures taken since taking over government said ”
Here are some of the key measures we have implemented:
• We have commissioned the Auditor-General and other oversight bodies to audit all outstanding payables and commitments. This process will help us determine their legitimacy and recommend the necessary corrective actions. The audit will be completed in eight weeks.
• We are amending the Procurement Act to ensure that no central government procurement takes place without prior authorisation from the Minister for Finance. This is to bring discipline and transparency to public spending.
• We are also introducing amendments to the Public Financial Management Act. This will include a debt rule to reduce our debt-to-GDP ratio to 45 percent by 2035 and a requirement to maintain a primary surplus of at least 1.5 percent of GDP annually. We are also legislating the establishment of an Independent Fiscal Council to oversee adherence to these fiscal rules.
• We have operationalised a Compliance Desk at the Ministry of Finance. This will closely monitor how MDAs are complying with their fiscal commitments under the PFM Act.
• Soon, we will begin publishing a Public Financial Management Commitment Control Compliance League Table to rank MDAs based on their level of compliance with financial controls.
He indicated that “These reforms are not just about meeting IMF targets. They are about restoring trust in public finances, ensuring credibility in our budgeting process, and laying a solid foundation for growth.
In fact, many of the structural reforms expected to be completed by the end of 2024 and early 2025 have already been implemented”.
