Finance Minister Seth Terkper is hopeful that Ghana’s development partners will start releasing donor funds to the nation due to the nation’s recent agreement with the International Monetary fund (IMF).
Ghana’s donor partners are said to be withholding about 600 million dollars from the country until they see a stronger commitment to fiscal discipline and the fight against corruption.
[contextly_sidebar id=”FEPncRfQPiPrT2bROXuWsRX9pxCLurn1″]The refusal to release donor funds is said to have negatively affected some of the government’s plans for development.
The government has had to seek IMF bailout to help stabilize Ghana’s economy, which has been hit with a depreciating currency, rising inflation and debt.
The IMF on Thursday agreed to give the country about US$940 million to help turn the weak economy around.
However, speaking in an interview with the Citi News, the Finance Minister explained the IMF deal will restore global confidence in the economy which will lead to the release of the donor funds.
“The $940 million is balance of payment support, It is not going to the budget. It is going to help stabilize the cedi. That’s the purpose. The complementary things that are going to happen. We were just reading, the bond markets are reacting positively, donors might give us the money they are holding back. Those are going to be the gains,” Seth Terkper said.
Some economic analysts have, however, downplayed the significance of the IMF money and say it may be too small to effectively save the economy.
By: Nana Agyemang Asante/citifmonline.com/Ghana