Ghana to get IMF bailout soon – MD assures

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is certain that the fund’s Executive Board would quickly provide final approval to Ghana’s bailout request.

Ms Georgieva said at the ongoing World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington D.C. that her optimism stemmed from the swelling goodwill that the country was getting from the international community, including its creditors.

At the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington D.C., USA Ms Georgieva told journalists on Thursday that her outfit was pushing the bilateral creditors to quickly provide the financial assurance needed for the board to approve the deal.

Ghana secured staff-level agreement (SLA) for the $3 billion request in December but efforts to move pass the final lap have dragged as bilateral creditors haggle over the terms of the debt restructuring exercise.

Reports from the Spring Meetings indicates that a deal in May was closer as China softened its stance on the need for multilaterals to share debt losses.

The IMF MD, when asked about when Ghanaians should expect a deal, said: “We have been urging Ghana’s creditors to act swiftly.”

“To tell you the truth, I am optimistic that we are going to move swiftly and so stay positive,” she said.

Ghana needs a deal to stabilise the cedi further, contain inflationary pressures and tap into the international capital market for loans to fund development.

It would be the country’s 17th bailout programme after joining the IMF in September 1957.