IMF'S Board Meeting on Ghana's Program Rescheduled To January 19

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rescheduled its Executive Board meeting to assess Ghana's program and approve a substantial $600 million allocation for the country. 

Related To This: Ghana's Economy In Jeopardy As Debt Restructuring Talks With Creditors Goes Slow

This forthcoming review will mark the first evaluation subsequent to Ghana's acquisition of the IMF program in May 2023. The rescheduling, as per reports, is not attributed to any specific challenges in Ghana meeting the program's benchmarks or concerns about the deal Ghana reached with its external bilateral creditors under the G20 Common Framework. Instead, it pertains to the Executive Directors of the Board seeking additional time to meticulously scrutinize the documents submitted by the IMF staff.

According to sources, the IMF Executive Board deems it essential to have a minimum of three working days to conduct the necessary scrutiny and procedural review of Ghana's program. Thus, scheduling the board meeting on Thursday, January 18, 2024, may not provide sufficient time for the requisite document review.

Related To This: Ghana's Official Creditors Set to Discuss Debt Restructuring on January 8

Background and Next Steps

Originally, the IMF's Executive Board was slated to convene on January 18, 2024, to review Ghana's program, as previously agreed upon in December 2023, contingent on Ghana securing the essential financing assurance from the Official Creditor Committee. The hope was for a timely resolution, enabling the Board to meet on January 11, 2024. However, with no deal in place then, the meeting did not materialize.

Following Ghana's recent agreement with its bilateral creditors on Friday, January 12, 2024, the path has been cleared for the IMF Board to convene and assess Ghana's program.

Moving forward, should Ghana successfully fulfill all targets set under the program during the initial review meeting, the Executive Board is poised to greenlight an approximately $600 million disbursement for the country—constituting the second bailout package. Sources have indicated that these funds are expected to be transferred to the Bank of Ghana's account within four working days.

Related To This: IMF To Review Ghana's Program, Potential Access To $600 Million Funding

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