The newly appointed Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the business community that the Fund programme is on track.
According to him, he will work to ensure that the programme does not suffer but rather yields adequate returns for Ghana and the Fund.
“It is important to note that we are under an IMF programme and I want to assure the IMF and the business community that I will ensure that the programme remains on track. I will work to ensure that the programme does not suffer,” he said.
Ghana began the 18th IMF programme in May 2023 where it immediately received the first tranche of $600 million from the Bretton Wood institution to address the fiscal imbalance in the economy, which at that time led to a persistent rise in inflation and a rapid depreciation of the cedi.
The country also received the second tranche of $600 million from the Fund in January 2024 after missing several deadlines, due to its failure to reach an agreement with its bilateral creditors on the external debt restructuring.
Dr. Amin Adam also said his focus will be on pro-poor programmes to ensure that livelihood of the people is improved, whilst businesses are sustainable.
He added that his Ministry will move faster and implement the tax reliefs in the 2024 Budget to enable the government to meet its revenue target and achieve its fiscal deficit target.
“If you look at the budget that was presented this year, there were a number of pro-poor initiatives, and I do not intend to depart from those pro-poor initiatives. And I will ensure that business follows as usual as it should,” he said.
“We will make sure that we move faster to implement the tax reliefs that were made in the budget [2024] and I am going to make sure the poor are insulated,” he added.
