Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has announced that the fourth tranche of 360 million dollars is expected to be released later this week.
This release will bring the total funds disbursed under the program to $1.92 billion.
Speaking during a Monthly Economic Update on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, Dr. Amin Adam expressed confidence in the country’s economic growth, highlighting the successful completion of the third IMF review and the government’s exceptional fiscal discipline during this election year.
“We expect the immediate release of the fourth tranche of 360 million dollars this week. This will bring the total disbursement under the program to 1.92 billion dollars. Ghana has successfully concluded another IMF review, the third review, coming after the successful reviews of the first review and the second review, which are indicative of the fact that Ghana has been performing well as far as fiscal management and economic management are concerned. In an election year, we have maintained fiscal discipline and uncharacteristic fiscal discipline.“
“The testament by the IMF demonstrates the continuous confidence the international community has in the Ghanaian economy, and we will continue to ensure that we do not derail from the program.”
He assured Ghanaians who had lost money due to the economic downturn that the government had implemented policies and measures to facilitate recovery, promising they would regain their funds within a year or two.
“It has taken us a lot of effort to bring this economy back to this state. Many people lost hope that this economy will recover, but I want to assure the people of Ghana, particularly those who have lost money, that this recovery is not by accident.”
“We have implemented good policies and measures that are driving the economy back, and with the rate of recovery we are seeing, I do not have any doubt that in a year or two, those who have lost money will recover their money. Let us continue to build confidence in this economy as we have been doing and continue to support this economy with all hands on deck so that we can build an economy that is good for all the people of Ghana.”
Dr. Amin Adam also highlighted that the government had surpassed the inflation target outlined in the IMF program while achieving notable advancements in fiscal consolidation.
“We have outperformed the inflation target set under the program. Inflation has continued to decline from a peak of 54.1% in December 2022 to 22.1% in October 2024, influenced by reductions in both food and non-food inflation. Then on the standoff in Parliament, certainly when Parliament is not functioning, it affects the government; it affects the people of Ghana.”
Dr. Amin Adam voiced concern over the impact of the standoff in Parliament, noting that it had delayed the passage of legislation required for Ghana to qualify for a $300 million disbursement from the World Bank.
“Then on the standoff in Parliament, certainly when Parliament is not functioning, it affects the government, it affects the people of Ghana. I mean, we are a Parliament that is elected by the people of Ghana to represent them, and so when there is an impasse, it means that the people do not have representation because the work of Parliament is halted. Therefore, to say that the economy has not been affected by the impasse is to treat it mildly.”
“For example, we should have passed certain legislation that would have qualified us to receive 300 million dollars from the World Bank. The World Bank has not disbursed the money because those bills have not been passed into law because Parliament is not working as it should, so this is just one example of how the impasse in Parliament has affected the management of the economy.”
Despite this setback, he emphasized that the economy remains strong and the government is operating well within budget.
“But in spite of that, as I said earlier, we have stayed the course, the economy is strong, we are within the budget and we will make sure that we achieve the fiscal objectives for the budget here.”
Story by: Alexander Kuuku Osei-Baidoo | univers.ug.edu.gh
