Ghana to get $900m from donor partners

Ghana is set to receive some $900 million from its donor partners spread over the next two years.

This is in addition to some $918 million dollars that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected to disburse to Ghana.

Documents covering Ghana’s programme with IMF intercepted by Joy Business, suggest that the funds will be disbursed to the country as part of its programme with the fund.

The IMF board, last month approved some $918 million to help stabilise the economy, and support government’s balance of payment deficits.

Typically, such fund agreements, result in the country’s development partners also committing additional funds.

However what Ghana is expected to get from the donors is a little lower than the $1.5 billion initially reported.

Ghana is expected to meet certain conditions before these funds come in.

Cleaning up the payroll of ghost names, reducing the Bank of Ghana’s financing of Government’s operations, implementing additional measures to check inflation and ensuring that government reduces substantially the public debt which stands at about È»76 billion as at December, are things government is expected to seriously address.

With this latest information, Ghana will now get almost $2 billion in terms of the real or actual financial support it expects to get after signing up to an IMF programme.

In a related development, the IMF is set to carry out its first review in terms of how government has implemented conditions set under the bailout programme.

The review will basically look at how far government has come in checking its expenditure, borrowing, improving revenue collection and the public wage bill.

If Ghana is successful with the test, it will be able to get the second tranche of $114 million from the IMF on July 15.

President John Mahama yesterday, indicated that he cannot wait for the review to be completed because it has the potential of unlocking frozen donor and investor funds for the country.