ACCRA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the third review of Ghana's reforms, paving the way for immediate disbursement of 360 million U.S. dollars to support reform efforts, a release by the IMF said late Monday.
The new approval brings Ghana's total disbursements under the arrangement to about 1.9 billion dollars since the beginning of the current reforms in May 2023.
"Ghana's performance under the IMF-supported program has been generally satisfactory. All quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets for the third review were met," said the IMF.
Notwithstanding some delays, good progress was also made on the key structural reforms as the policy and reform efforts under the program continue to deliver encouraging results, with the economy showing clear signs of stabilization, according to the IMF.
The statement noted that the country's fiscal performance is on track to achieve the targets set under the program despite emerging spending pressures stemming from a recent dry spell and challenges in the energy sector.
The IMF also lauded the country's central bank for maintaining a strong monetary policy stance to sustain the reduction in inflation against heightened risks.
"Going forward, staying the course of macroeconomic policy adjustment and reforms is essential to fully and durably restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while fostering a sustainable increase in economic growth and poverty reduction," the IMF said.
In late November, the Bank of Ghana announced the decision to keep its key lending rate at 27 percent to curb the rising risk of inflation.
Ghana, once one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa, has been recovering from severe economic crises that peaked in 2022, marked by rising inflation, exchange rate fluctuation, and soaring costs of living.
The Ghanaian government obtained approval for the 3-billion-U.S. dollar loan from the IMF in May 2023 to implement reforms and steer the economy toward recovery. ■
