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Ghana and the International Monetary Fund have reached an agreement on the terms of a second payment of $600 million under its $3 billion loan agreement, the IMF said in a statement on Friday.
The second installment of Ghana’s loan will be paid after the IMF board’s final approval, bringing the total released since May to $1.2 billion, according to the IMF.
Ghana struck an agreement with the IMF in December to shore up its public finances and better manage debt in order to emerge from its worst economic crisis in decades.
“The authorities have adjusted macroeconomic policies, successfully completed their domestic debt restructuring operation, and launched wide-ranging reforms,” IMF mission chief Stephane Roudet said in a statement at the end of his team’s review in Accra.
“These actions are already generating positive results.”
According to the announcement, Ghana will have access to around $600 million in finance after the mission’s review is approved by the board.
With President Nana Akufo-Addo stepping down after two terms, the country’s economic state will be a prominent election campaign subject next year.
Several hundred opposition protestors marched earlier this week in Ghana’s capital Accra to condemn the economic crisis, blaming it on the central bank governor’s policies.
Ghana, a significant producer of cocoa and gold, also has oil and gas reserves.
However, its debt burden has grown, and it, like other Sub-Saharan African countries, has grappled with the economic consequences of the Covid epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
