The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has boosted Ghana's fight against the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic after approving the government's request for financial support to curb the viral spread and mitigate its impact on lives and the economy.
The fund on April 13 approved a $1 billion credit facility that it said would help "address the country’s urgent financing needs, improve confidence, and catalyse support from other international partners."
The loan is to be drawn from the IMF's Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), a product of the Bretton Woods institution that provides concessionary financial assistance with with limited conditionalities to low-income countries (LICs).
A statement issued on April 13 said although the government was proactive in addressing the issue, "additional support from other development partners will be required and critical to close the remaining external financing gap and ease budget constraints.”
It said the pandemic had already led to a slowdown in growth, tighter financial conditions and increased pressure on the exchange rate.
It added that the IMF would continue to monitor Ghana’s situation closely and was also ready to provide policy advice and further support as needed.
This is the second time in five years that the country has sought financial assistance from the IMF to help smoothen out fiscal roughages and bolster growth in the economy.
In 2015, the country entered into a $918 million Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme with the IMF to help correct the fiscal slippages at the time that were resulting mainly from a deterioration in the external sector.
The three-year programme was later extended by a year and ended in April last year.
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