The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved US$114.6 million dollars for Ghana after the second review of Ghana’s economic performance under the program.
“Completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 83.025 million (about US$114.6 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 249.075 million (about US$343.7 million),” a statement from the Fund said on Wednesday.
“In completing the review, the Executive Board also granted a waiver for the nonobservance of the performance criterion regarding non-accumulation of external arrears, based on the corrective measures being taken by the authorities”, it added.
The Executive Board also approved new program targets for 2016. Ghana’s three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for about US$918 million was approved on April 3, 2015.
It aims to restore debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability in the country to foster a return to high growth and job creation, while protecting social spending.
The money is expected to be disbursed to government within the next 10 days.
It is hoped that the funds will come in time to help build up the dollar reserves of the central bank, which might help stabilize the Ghana cedi.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Kofi Wampah at the last MPC meeting noted the country’s international reserves as at November 2015stood at 5.7 billion dollars.
Source: myjoyonline