The International Monetary Fund and Ghana have reached a staff-level agreement on the first review of the country's 36-month programme under the Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI), the IMF said in a statement issued on Thursday, November 5, at the end of a mission to Accra led by Ruben Atoyan from October 22 to November 4. The agreement is not yet final: it still needs approval by IMF Management and the Fund's Executive Board.

Source: IMF statement, Nov 5, via Ghana Guardian

Ghana's performance under the programme was broadly satisfactory, with most quantitative targets achieved, the Fund said. The review is the first test of the PCI since Ghana completed the final review of its $3 billion Extended Credit Facility bailout in July and moved to the non-financing PCI, which the Executive Board approved on July 27 — an arrangement that provides no IMF money (yaani the $3 billion bailout, about 30 arab dollars in the old programme, is over) but keeps Accra's reforms under regular Fund review.

Source: IMF statement, Nov 5, via Ghana Guardian and The Ghana Report

Gold and foreign-exchange rules changed as reserves fell

The Fund said Ghana has already introduced corrective steps after its foreign-exchange reserves fell in recent months: foreign-exchange intermediation has been shifted from the Bank of Ghana to GoldBod, the Ghana Gold Board, and large-scale mining companies have been instructed to sell more gold. The IMF said Ghana must maintain both measures, alongside greater flexibility in the exchange rate, if it is to rebuild its reserves, and it also called for a sinking fund to support repayment of debt as it matures.

Source: IMF statement, Nov 5, via Ghana Guardian

The warnings sit alongside the satisfactory headline. The Fund pointed to substantial refinancing requirements for government debt, fiscal pressures affecting the energy, cocoa and gold sectors, and unresolved weaknesses in Ghana's financial sector. It also flagged the delayed publication of an audit of the Electricity Company of Ghana's collection accounts: "Completing the remaining reforms on time, including the delayed publication of the audit of the ECG's collection accounts, will be important," Atoyan said.

Source: IMF statement, Nov 5, via Ghana Guardian and The Ghana Report

Governance is the other named priority. The IMF team said adoption of the Conduct of Public Officers Bill, publication of the second National Ethics and Anti-Corruption Action Plan, and improved oversight of state-owned enterprises will help build public trust and support private investment.

Source: IMF statement, Nov 5, via The Vaultz News summary in search results; governance wording via IMF

What happens next

The staff-level agreement now goes to IMF Management and then the Executive Board for approval. The practical test in Accra is reserves: whether the GoldBod foreign-exchange shift and higher gold sales by big miners actually rebuild the buffers that fell this year, and whether the delayed ECG audit and the governance bills move on the timetable the Fund set out.