Ghana’s quest for IMF balance-of-payment support may be delayed due to the country’s failure to achieve some of the conditions before the end of the month.
Ghana will receive the IMF programme by the end of March, according to President Akufo-Addo and Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, stated at a press conference that Parliament must adopt a number of tax laws by the end of April in order for the IMF Executive Board to consider Ghana for assistance.
“The official creditors met last week, they are looking at a date in April, by which time they expect to give the necessary financial assurances. And once that is out of the way, once we have signed this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), once Parliament has passed these new revenue measures, we would have completed what they call the trial action”
Dr. Addison added, “this is what is needed for the fund to set a date for the executive board meeting. So hopefully if things go as planned, by the end of April, we should see that executive board meeting taking place.”
As a result, he asked Parliament to prioritise the adoption of the three new levies on the table.
The bills are the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, the Excise Duty and Excise Tax Stamp Bill, and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill.
The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, had previously appealed to the Minority in Parliament to support the adoption of the revenue bills currently before the house in order to assist the government in obtaining the $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Income Tax Amendment Bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill are estimated to raise approximately GH4 billion per year to complement domestic revenue.
The US government has committed to intervene on Ghana’s behalf with the Paris Club as the country seeks debt forgiveness as part of the IMF’s balance of payment support.
This was stated by US Vice President Kamala Harris during a joint press conference with President Akufo-Addo.
According to Mrs. Harris, the United States will provide Ghana with all of the assistance it requires to overcome its current economic difficulties.
Ghana, which is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a century, got a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December for a $3 billion loan, albeit the IMF’s board requires lenders to offer funding assurances before signing off on the programme.
