Ghana Finance Minister says unprecedented global challenges reason for going to IMF

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance, on Monday said the government’s decision to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial support is as a result of unprecedented global challenges.

He said Ghana’s economy was on the right path until the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020.

Mr Ofori Atta said this on the floor of Parliament when he delivered the Mid-year Budget Review.

“Mr Speaker, the country was on the path of recovery until the Russia-Ukraine war compounded Ghana’s financial crisis.,” he said.

Meanwhile, the latest figures released by the Bank of Ghana have put Ghana’s total public debt stock, as of June 2022, at US$54.4 billion or GH¢393.4 billion.

In dollar terms, the debt dropped by about $4 billion in the first six months of the year, from $58.6 $58.6 billion in December 2021 to $54.4 billion in the first half of the year 2022.

In cedi terms, nonetheless, the total debt stock within the first six months of this year, increased by about GH¢41 billion.

Per the data from the Central Bank’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data report, for July 2022, an additional 41.6 billion Ghana cedis had pushed Ghana’s public debt stock to GH¢393.4 billion as of June 2022.

Source: GNA