Gabby Calls IMF SLA “Remarkable”
Gabby Otchere Darko, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described as “remarkable” the government of Ghana’s ability to secure a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team.
He pointed to the fact that the exact USD3 billion support requested by the government of Ghana has received approval and that too within five months.
IMF staff and the Ghanaian authorities have reached SLA on economic policies and reforms to be supported by a three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of about US$3 billion.
The IMF noted, “the authorities’ strong reform program aims at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while protecting the vulnerable, preserving financial stability, and laying the foundation for strong and inclusive recovery. To support the objective of restoring public debt sustainability, the authorities have launched a comprehensive debt operation.
“In addition to a front-loaded fiscal consolidation and measures to reduce inflation and rebuild external buffers, the program envisages wide-ranging reforms to address structural weaknesses and enhance resilience to shocks.”
Reacting to this in a tweet, Gabby said, “to get to a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) with the IMF within 5 months & for the full amount requested is remarkable.
“It was good the Ghana team stayed focused; not distracted by those who kept pushing the fake narrative that IMF had no confidence in the head of the Ghanaian team”.
But at a joint press conference to announce this, Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta said the SLA is just an aspect of the process with more work yet to be done to secure IMF management and Board approval.
He called on Parliament and creditors to contribute their quota to ensure a successful operation.
“Key fiscal measures, structural reforms and the medium-term macro-fiscal framework in the 2023 budget are aligned with the IMF-supported programme. It is therefore crucial that we receive support from all stakeholders especially Parliament to ensure that the 2023 Budget including all revenue measures are passed and creditors to ensure a successful operation.”
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
