President John Dramani Mahama has given the indication that his government has not discussed the possibility of extending Ghana’s US$3 billion extended credit facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The focus of the government for now, President Mahama said was to stay on course with the current programme which expires in 2026.
“We’ve not talked about an extension of the programme. We are determined to continue with this programme.
“If it’s necessary to look at additional funds or to extend the programme, we’ll look at it, but for now, we are determined to continue on this trajectory,” President Mahama said.
He made this known in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last Friday.
According to President Mahama, government’s immediate priority was to ensure fiscal discipline and prudent financial management.
He underscored the need to cut wasteful expenditures and prioritise essential projects as part of government’s strategy to achieve economic stability within the IMF framework.
“I think that it means that we must be more prudent in our handling of our finances. We must also look on the expenditure side and see how we can cut waste and also shift resources to more priority programmes, and so it’s a whole basket that we are looking at,” he explained.
President Mahama’s indication comes on the back of a meeting between the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson and officials of the IMF last week.
The meeting was to review the progress on the programme and ensure compliance with agreed economic reforms.
Ghana’s programme with the IMF is designed to ensure structural reforms, debt management, and fiscal prudence to restore economic stability.
Meanwhile, in an engagement with the Ghanaian community in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday after the 38th Ordinary Session of the African Union, President Mahama said his focus was to swiftly stabilise the economy and create employment opportunities for the youth.
He emphasized that ensuring young people got jobs, lived decent lives, and being able to support their families was a top priority for his administration.
In the view of President Mahama, the worsening living condition of the citizenry has led to despondency among the youth which needed urgent attention.
“It’s become important to do a reset of our democracy, our governance, accountability, and even our attitudes. Because if you look at all the opinion polling that has taken place, it did show that there was an increasing decline in confidence and faith in our democracy,” he stated.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
