Officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will commence negotiations with the government today, July 6 to July 13, 2022, on a possible programme to support Ghana’s domestic economic policies.
The IMF team led by the Mission Chief for Ghana, Carlo Sdralevich will meet in person with officials from the Finance Ministry, the Economic Management, and the Presidency to examine the government’s fiscal expenditure and projections for 2022.
The IMF team will also look at the public sector wage bill, negotiations, and government payroll reforms as part of their discussions.
The labour unions including the Trades Union Congress (TUC) had slammed the government for seeking assistance from the fund, saying that IMF restrictions will exacerbate the people’s economic hardship.
However, the government says with the support of IMF’s resources, it is committed to ensuring the smooth operation of all taxes to support the country’s economic recovery agenda, while ensuring that the tax-to-GDP ratio rises to the peer range of 16-18.
Analysts predict that it would take at least three months for the parties to agree on a programme.