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Outgoing finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta has said Ghana is expecting an influx of nearly $2bn from development partners by year’s end to significantly bolster its international reserves.
The injection of these substantial financial resources is anticipated to fortify the local unit, the cedi, which ended 2023 with a year-to-date depreciation of 15.57% to the US dollar in the retail market, and dropped about 27.81% on the interbank market, and has continued to depreciate against major foreign trading currencies since the year’s inception.
President Nana Akufo-Addo replaced his finance minister as the West African nation looks to secure an agreement with commercial creditors on restructuring its debt.
Mohammed Amin Adam, the minister of state for finance, will replace Ofori-Atta with immediate effect, the president said in a statement on Wednesday (February 14).
Ofori-Atta had been finance minister since 2017 and successfully led negotiations to secure a $3bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as an agreement with bilateral creditors to restructure its loans.
Signifying progress on this front, the government has already received the second tranche of $600mn from the IMF. Furthermore, the World Bank’s recent announcement of the approval of the initial $300mn instalment out of a three-year $900mn budget support facility adds to the optimistic outlook.
The IMF is slated to conduct two additional reviews of its programme with the major producer of gold, each expected to unlock approximately $360mn, writes the Daily Graphic. Concurrently, the World Bank is poised to release around $250mn to operationalize the Ghana Financial Stability fund, aimed at supporting banks affected by the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) implemented last year.
Additionally, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is slated to extend a $50mn facility to bolster Ghana’s financial stability further.
Highlighting the progression of the World Bank facility, Ofori-Atta emphasised the government’s readiness pending parliamentary ratification to facilitate disbursement. Expressing confidence in navigating the IMF reviews to access the subsequent tranches of bailout funds, he underscored the transformative potential of these foreign inflows, including the anticipated $800mn cocoa loan.
With these developments on the horizon, Ofori-Atta articulated an optimistic outlook for Ghana’s economic trajectory in the coming year, characterising the amalgamation of foreign inflows as a catalyst for an exciting economic future.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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