The report that the International Monetary Fund has projected that Ghana will end the year with a Debt-to-GDP of 90.7 per cent is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Friday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that Ghana will end the year with a Debt-to-GDP of 90.7 per cent.
This according to myjoyonline.com was captured in its Fiscal Outlook Report released on the sidelines of the on-going IMF/World Bank Annual meetings in Washington DC, USA.
The report, also forecasts that the Debt–to-GDP could reduce to 87.8 per cent in 2023.
According to the IMF, revenue expressed as a ratio of GDP could also hit 14.1 per cent at the end of 2022.
It will subsequently increase to 14.7 per cent in 2023 and 15.4 per cent in 2024”, the report said, classifying Ghana as a Low Income Developing Country.
Ghana is currently undergoing Debt Sustainability Analysis with the IMF and the World Bank. This is expected to help the country ascertain the true levels of the debt stock.
The country was recently classified as a High Risk of Debt Distress by the World Bank and IMF in its Debt Sustainability Analysis.
The two Bretton Wood institutions are currently conducting a new Sustainability Debt Analysis on Ghana – a situation that could influence the outcome of an economic programme with Ghana by the end of 2022.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has already indicated that government is working hard to reach a programme with the IMF by November 2022.
The government is hoping to secure a programme with the IMF before the 2023 Budget presentation in parliament within the same period.
The newspaper says that Ghana will reaffirms its commitment to promoting international cooperation, global peace and security as it marks the 77th anniversary of the United Nations(UN) on October 25.
Ghana will use the platform to highlight the need for evidence-based solutions that are rooted in science for decision making to promote sustainable development.
At the sideline, will be the signing of the New Cooperation Framework between Ghana and the UN for the period 2023-2025.
The new framework is developed by the UN to support Ghana’s development agenda and aims to ensure that women, youth and persons with disability and those furthest behind will enjoy an inclusive and transformed economy that creates decent jobs and sustainable livelihoods, reducing inequalities.
Ghana will mark the UN Day on the theme: “Building on the 3Ss- Solidarity, Sustainable and Science –towards a more resilient Ghana” in line with the 77Th session of the UN General Assembly theme: “Solutions Through Solidarity, Sustainability and Science.”
The UN has put the spotlight on science, given the fact that science played a pivotal role in finding solutions to the global COVID-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc on humanity.
October 24 is marked every year as UN Day in commemoration of the adoption of the UN Charter that came into force on October 24, 1945.
But, Ghana, as a member of the 193 member states, will observe the day on October 25 with a solemn flag-raising at the forecourt of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integrity (MFA&RI), to be addressed by the sector Minister, Shirley AyorkorBotchwey, and UN Resident Coordinator, Charles Abani.
The Graphic reports that the Board of Directors of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) has approved $250 million for five member states to boost the oil and gas, energy, road infrastructure and agricultural sectors in those countries.
The beneficiary countries are Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
The approval is part of the intensified efforts by EBID to invest in key sectors to spur post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery.
The investment is also to mitigate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on ECOWAS member states.
The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of EBID, Dr George Agyekum Donkor, disclosed this at the 79th Session of the Board of Directors of the bank in Lome last Wednesday.
Dr Donkor said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war had left many economies in tatters.
He indicated that current market conditions had compelled investors to seek premium on investments in sub-Saharan Africa, thereby increasing the cost of capital.
That had resulted in dampening economic growth, widespread balance of payment deficits, unfavourable terms of trade, depletion of central bank international reserves, fiscal deficits and debt distress, the President of EBID stated.
He, therefore, stressed the need for EBID, as the financial arm of ECOWAS, to deepen its financial intermediation in all the critical sectors of member states to assist them to recover from the economic challenges.
The newspaper says that former President John Dramani Mahama has said that any government that comes to office must ensure the country never seeks a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) again.
That, he said, was because constantly seeking bailouts from the organisation creates instabilities thereby threatening the country’s democracy.
“This should be the last time because going and coming to the IMF creates a certain instability in the whole system and reduces the faith that people have in our democracy,” he said.
He made the statement in a television interview on the Voice of America (VOA) Straight Talk Africa programme in Washington DC.
Mr Mahama said engaging in an IMF programme would bring the country’s debts back to sustainable levels and help to achieve policy credibility which would motivate investors to do business in the country.
However, he urged the government to also develop home-grown policies aimed at transforming the economy to ensure investor confidence.
Mr Mahama also said the government must make reducing the budget of the Office of the President a key aspect in the negotiations with the IMF which, according to the former president, was necessary to show the government’s commitment to reduce expenditure.
“They have to cut the budget to the Office of the President to show the way because if the president himself is cutting the budget of government machinery, then it means everybody must be prepared to make a sacrifice,” he explained.
The former president therefore stated that the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) government would strengthen stated-owned institutions and undertake a constitutional review as part of their strategy to sustain the economy.
“We have been operating it for more 26 years and I think the time has come to look at it again and do some tweaking so that we can have a proper constitutional environment in which to grow the economy,” he added.
GIK/APA