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An IMF Bailout Will Help Kick-Start Ghana's Economic Recovery, but Challenges Remain

May 19, 2023 | 19:38 GMT

Ghanaians march in Accra on Nov. 5, 2022, to protest against the government’s handling of the country’s dire economic crisis.

Ghanaians march in Accra on Nov. 5, 2022, to protest against the government’s handling of the country’s dire economic crisis.

(Ernest Ankomah/Getty Images)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s approval of a $3 billion bailout will enable Ghana to begin recovering from its worst economic crisis in a generation, but the required unpopular fiscal consolidation measures may increase political volatility ahead of the 2024 general election. On May 17, the IMF Executive Board approved a relief package with an immediate disbursement of $600 million to support Ghana's economic recovery. The program is based on the Ghanaian government's Post-COVID-19 Program for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), which seeks to implement wide-ranging reforms to build macroeconomic and debt sustainability. Ghana is also in the process of restructuring its external debt under the Group of 20 (G-20) Common Framework, which the IMF had set as a prerequisite for the disbursement of funds. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that bilateral creditors have agreed to make Ghana's debt sustainable, but details on debt negotiations have not yet been made public....

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