The International Monetary Fund(IMF), on Friday, completed the sixth and seventh reviews of Ghana’s performance under the programme supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). In completing the reviews, the Executive Board approved waivers for non-observance of three performance criteria: the net change in domestic arrears for end-December 2011; the fiscal balance target for end-March 2012, and the floor on net international reserves for end-March 2012.  

The Executive Board’s decision will allow for the final disbursement of an amount equivalent to $178.74 million, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to an amount equivalent to $581.28 million. The Executive Board also approved the government’s request of an extension of the programme by about two weeks until July 31, 2012, for making the final disbursement. Ghana’s current three-year ECF arrangement was approved on July 15, 2009.

Following the Execu-tive Board’s decision on Ghana, Deputy Manag-ing Director and Acting Chair, Mr Naoyuki Shinohara, said: “Ghana’s economic performance was strong last year and medium-term growth prospects remain favourable, but short-term risks to macroeconomic stability have risen. A rapid depreciation of the cedi is fuelling inflation and reserve cover has fallen below comfortable levels.
Furthermore, spending overruns at the end of 2011, large public wage increases, and re-emergence of energy subsidies have created the need for corrective actions to achieve fiscal targets.”

The authorities’ 2012 economic programme focuses appropriately on measures to preserve hard-won stabilisation gains. On the fiscal side, this implies greater revenue mobilisation and expenditure restraint. In particular, savings identified by the pension and payroll audits must be realised and spending pressures in the run up to elections need to be resisted.”

The authorities will need to accelerate their ongoing efforts to complete the fiscal reform agenda. Priority area include tax administration and public financial management.

In addition, given Ghana’s increasing reliance on non-concessional financing, it is critical to develop a robust and transparent framework for public investment prioritisation and debt management. ”Monetary policy has reacted slowly to the sharp cedi depreciation and the associated inflation risks. Loose conditions have now been tightened and will need to remain tight to preserve the credibility of the inflation-targeting regime.

The authorities should stand ready to raise the policy rate further, if needed, and manage liquidity tightly, while restoring foreign exchange reserves to more comfortable levels. ”Financial sector reforms continue to be a priority. The authorities should sustain their efforts to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework and improve supervisory capacity. It will also be important to continue to address long-standing deficiencies in Ghana’s AML/CFT regime,” Shinohara added.