Ghana stands ready to unlock second disbursement of IMF cash

Economist, Dr. Patrick Assuming is optimistic Ghana will be able to receive the second tranche of $600 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the review of the bailout programme later in September.

A visiting team from the Fund is expected to arrive in Ghana to assess the country’s eligibility for the second disbursement.

Ghana received the first tranche of $600 million on May 19 as part of the $3billion Extended Credit Facility secured from the Fund to restore macroeconomic stability.

Dr. Assuming believes Ghana has been able to make the resilient economic reforms to stand the chance of receiving the second tranche.

“Based on the indicators and the actions that have been taken so far, you expect that the IMF staff will recommend and then the Board will approve that the next tranche is paid. Some of the indicators have stabilized or marginally improved”, he told Citi Business News.

The government is also hopeful to receive the disbursement of the second tranche of $600 million when the team visits Ghana.

Although other financial analysts have emphasized the need for government to work to meet its structural benchmarks, Dr. Assuming believes, government is on course to unlock the next disbursement.

“If you look at the actions that the government must take for the upcoming review, the legal requirements such as changing the Bank of Ghana Act to curtail BoG lending to government and related matters and measures to rake in more revenue, you get the sense that government has done more than enough so my expectation is that when the IMF team comes on board they will probably find the progress made favorable enough to approve the next tranche.”

Source: Citi Business News