ACCRA, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the final review of Ghana's just-ended economic reforms, paving the way for the immediate release of the final 371 million U.S. dollars to the country.
According to an IMF press release issued Monday, the latest approval brings Ghana's total disbursements under the three-year arrangement to 3 billion dollars since the reform program began in May 2023.
"Ghana's performance under the program has been broadly satisfactory. Since the program's approval, substantial gains have been achieved in macroeconomic stabilization and debt sustainability, including a sharp decline in inflation and a near doubling of reserves by 2025," the release said.
It also noted that the West African cocoa, gold, and crude oil exporter has recorded a surplus in its primary fiscal balance, while the risk of debt distress returned to moderate. The economy grew by 6 percent in 2025 and 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026, driven by broad-based activity as the impact of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF)-backed reforms kicked in.
The IMF board approved a waiver for the non-observance of the end-of-December 2025 performance criteria pertaining to the ceiling on the Bank of Ghana's claims on the central government and public entities, which were temporarily breached by a small margin due to cost-sharing arrangements under the domestic gold purchase program.
It said the waiver was granted due to the temporary nature of the slight deviation and the corrective actions carried out by the authorities.
Ghana secured approval from the IMF board for a 3-billion-dollar ECF arrangement to support the reform program in May 2023, aimed at reversing the crippling economic downturn, including ballooning public debt, high fiscal slippage, surging inflation, and foreign exchange instability, which started in late 2021. ■
