The worst is over for Ghana’s economy – IMF Mission Chief

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief for Ghana, Stéphane Roudet, has indicated that Ghana’s economy has seen its worst level and it’s now set for full recovery.

However, he said this projection is based on the “government continuing to implement the IMF programme the way it has been done over the past year, then we can say that we have now seen the worst for Ghana ‘s economy.”

The IMF Mission Chief was responding to a question posed by JOYBUSINESS in Washington DC USA on concerns that there could be some blips and shocks to the economy, due to the current developments in the global economy.

While responding to concerns that the current recovery that Ghana is experiencing might be short-lived, the IMF Mission Chief for Ghana, disagreed.

He, however, maintained that fully restoring macroeconomic stability is all about the programme being implemented strictly by the government.

Ghana’s performance under the programme

The Mission Chief For Ghana, Stéphane Roudet, also revealed that “Ghana is overperforming under the IMF programme and that is good.”

“Ghana’s programme is delivering on its promises and in fact, it is over-delivering” the Mission Chief added.

“Growth is also doing better than what we have forecasted and that is also influencing our decision to review our forecast” he noted.

He said the development is going to prompt them to even review the growth forecast for Ghana for 2024, saying inflation ended last year better than what they had projected.

“We are also surprised as to how growth has performed under Ghana’s programme” the Mission Chief added.

He said this was never evident, at the beginning of Ghana’s programme.

“The required revenue is being raised, the Bank of Ghana is also doing its part to ensure that, and inflation is brought under control and that is good for the programme”, he noted.

The Mission Chief for Ghana also added that “the external position has also been doing very well; fiscal position is also adjusting in line with the programme working and delivering on its promises.”

“Everything is moving in the right direction and this is something that was not considered at the beginning of the IMF programme.”

Mr Roudet continued that, this performance has also been influenced by Ghana’s commitment and seriousness about implementing the programme.

Restoring confidence in Ghana’s economy and reactions from rating agencies

The IMF Mission Chief for Ghana said that for confidence in Ghana’s economy to be fully restored and seen through the lens of various actors such as rating agencies and development partners, it will be anchored on the full implementation of the IMF programme going forward.

“If the macroeconomic development unfolds as we planned in the IMF programme, then definitely we should expect them to respond as well as all agencies” the Mission Chief added.

“We are not only looking at the rating agencies responding, Ghanaians as well, domestic stakeholders, then everyone will realize and that will boost confidence in the economy.”

On growth and other projections captured in reports released during the IMF/World Bank spring meetings, Stéphane Roudet noted that those were based on “old assumptions.”

He therefore said the country should expect new numbers when they launch the Regional Economic Outlook.

“We believe that the economy will perform better than had been projected” Ghana Stephan Roude reiterated.

He added, “Ghana has a growth potential average of 5 per cent going forward in the medium term.”

“Gradually, Ghana will be able to get back to its growth potential going forward” the Head of Mission concluded.