Skip to main content

We are optimistic Ghana will secure IMF Board approval in quarter 1, 2023 – Fitch Solutions

 


Fitch Solutions, has expressed optimism of a likely International Monetary Fund Board approval for a programme for Ghana in the first quarter of 2023.

In its January 2023 Sub-Saharan Africa Macroeconomic Update, it said the country has made significant progress on the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, a key condition for the $3 billion Balance of Payment support from the Fund.

Senior Country Risk Analyst at Fitch Solutions based in London, Mike Kruninger said “the first thing I should say is that, the IMF Executive Board approval will happen in the coming weeks”.

He, however, warned that should the approval fail to happen in quarter one of 2023, investor sentiments will remain weaker in the coming months, putting additional pressure on the cedi.

So in the first quarter of 2023, should this not happen, we will be expecting investor confidence to remain rather weak in the coming months which will put additional pressure on the exchange rate. So in that case, the currency will depreciate further more significantly than we currently anticipate”.

Kruninger added that “so what will happen in that instance is inflation will remain much higher for much longer. And this will then weigh on incomes, it will weigh on overall private sector activities”.

He concluded that Ghana’s growth rate will then be weaker than the 2.9% it projected.

So in this instance the economic wealth will become much weaker than the 2.9 percent that we are currently forecasting”.

IMF deal would improve Ghana’s external position, restore investor sentiment

Fitch Solutions had earlier said an IMF deal would help improve Ghana’s external and fiscal positions, restoring investor sentiment and easing pressure on the exchange rate.

It indicated that the government would make greater progress on fiscal reforms under an IMF deal.

We believe that an IMF deal would improve Ghana’s external and fiscal positions, restoring investor sentiment and easing pressure on the exchange rate”.

Ghana’s fiscal metrics haddeteriorated significantly since 2020, due to weak revenue inflows and high-interest expenditures, with its budget deficit narrowing only slightly to 8.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022 (from 9.3% in 2021), much wider compared to the 10-year pre-pandemic average of a 4.9% deficit.

Under an IMF programme, we expect the government would make greater progress on fiscal reforms as the authorities seek to meet the targets to regain market access”, it pointed out.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MTN Ghana & MTN MoMo CEOs win laurels at Ghana CEO Awards

  The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh ,   has been adjudged  CEO of the Year  –  Telecom  at the  2 nd  edition of the  Ghana CEO  Vision  and  Awards   held  in Accra. At the same event, the CEO of Mobile Money Limited (MTN MoMo), Shaibu Haruna was also adjudged CEO of the Year – FinTech Service Provider. Selorm  Adadevoh’s award  is in recognition  of  his   achievements   in the areas of   sustainability, leadership excellence, innovation and others  in the telecoms space  which  has contributed to  job creation to support the  growth of Ghana’s economy. Patrick Afari (r), General Manager, Supply Chain Management and General Services receiving CEO of the Year – Telecom Award on behalf of Selorm Adadevoh Receiving the award on behalf of Selorm, Patrick Afari, General Manager, Supply Chain Management and General Services ,  expressed appreciation to the organizers for the award. He  noted that  th e  award will go a long way to inspire MTN to do more for Ghanaian

EB-ACCION DISBURSES US$15 MILLION

By Fred SARPONG Ecobank-Accion (EB-Accion), a partnership between Ecobank Ghana Limited and Accion International has disbursed amount to the tune of $15 million to over 36,000 borrowers in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector in the country, since the institution was set up barely six months ago. Frances Adu-Mantey, the Managing Director of EB-Accion disclosed this to Business Week in Accra last week during the official opening of Accion Hub headquarters in Africa. The institution’s current portfolio stands at GH¢4 million. She stated that currently, EB-Accion have over 6100 customers who save with them throughout the four branches of the institution. According to her, in order to improve the services of the institution, Ecobank Share Services center will facilitate the technology aspect of the bank by networking all the branches of EB-Accion. Maria Otero, President and Chief Executive Officer of Accion International said that the center’s staff in Accra will provide supp

Amantin & Kasei Community Bank posts impressive growth, with over GH¢1m profit

 Amantin and Kasei Community Bank, at Amantin in the Bono East Region has posted impressive growth in all the performance indicators during 2022 financial year under review. The bank recorded profit after tax of GH¢1,055,662, representing 35.66% more over the 2021 figure of GH¢778.151. This achievement stemmed out of 49.24% gross income growth from GH¢8,143,526 to GH¢12,153,537. Total deposits of the bank went up by 36.20%, changing from GH¢50,959,848 in 2021 to GH¢69,405,591 in 2022. The bank increased loans and advances by 22.15% from GH¢14,128,017 to GH¢17,257,614. Total assets showed an appreciation of 29.32%, amounting to GH¢77,918,288 as against GH¢60,250,693 in the previous year. On the other hand, the bank posted a marginal increase in short term investments portfolio from GH¢24,439,761 to GH¢26,585,698, indicating 8.78% change. The Chairman of Board of Directors, Amantin and Kasei Community Bank, Dr. John Oduro-Boateng, disclosed this during the 18th annual general meeting of