Economic Advisory at Deloitte Africa, Yaw Appiah Lartey Esq, has urged the government to reconsider its decision not to renegotiate or extend Ghana’s ongoing programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This follows a statement by the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, during a joint press conference with the IMF in Accra, where he affirmed that the government has no plans to renegotiate or extend the current programme with the IMF.
Dr Forson emphasized the government’s commitment to fully implementing the programme in order to restore macroeconomic stability and drive sustainable growth.
According to him, seeking to renegotiate the programme would signal a lack of confidence in its objectives.
“Renegotiating presupposes that you don’t believe in the programme and so you want to open up the conversation to look at other parameters of the programme. That isn’t the position of the government. The government is committed to implementation to achieve the objectives of the IMF programme,” he stated.
However, reacting to this on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Mr. Lartey noted that negotiating with the IMF could have been beneficial—particularly given the global decline in international donor funding.
He cited examples such as the USA and the UK’s recent shifts in fiscal priorities, including increased defense spending at the expense of development aid.
Mr. Lartey argued that with the shrinking pool of global development aid, it would have been prudent for Ghana to renegotiate the terms of the programme, particularly the funds to be disbursed.
He pointed out that a significant portion of the IMF funds had already been disbursed before the current administration came into office, and thus, some form of renegotiation regarding the remaining funds would have been appropriate.
He remarked, “I’m not surprised, given some of the comments from government circles—particularly from the President and the Minister of Finance himself during the presser. There wasn’t a clear indication that the government intended to pursue an extension of the IMF programme. So it’s not surprising to me. What we need to understand is what programmes and objectives the government has outlined to mitigate the potential adverse impacts of bringing the IMF programme to an end.”
He added, “When you look at developments in international funding, donor aid is shrinking. This is due to a few key developments. Firstly, the United States government has chosen to scale back or even cancel development-based programmes, including USAID and several others. Secondly, the UK has increased its defense budget by 40%, which has come at the expense of development aid. Thirdly, the European Union is also ramping up defense spending in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, again reducing the budget for development aid.”
Mr. Lartey concluded, “So development aid is shrinking. If you have an opportunity to negotiate with a development partner like the IMF—which has consistent revenue and is not influenced by any individual government such as the US or EU—I would have expected the government to pursue a renegotiation of the funds to be disbursed. As noted, a significant portion of the funds was disbursed prior to the current administration. Therefore, if any renegotiation was to occur, it should have focused on the amounts remaining. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”
The IMF has been supporting Ghana’s economic recovery through its Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme. The programme aims to restore macroeconomic stability, build resilience, and lay the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth.
