President John Dramani Mahama said on Saturday (23 May) the country’s programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was at risk of derailment when his administration took office, forcing the government to implement urgent corrective measures to restore compliance with agreed targets.

Speaking during his “Resetting Ghana” tour in the Savannah Region, Mahama said key performance indicators under the IMF-supported programme had fallen off track before his government assumed office.

“At the time we took over from the previous government, all the agreed performance indicators were off track. It meant that the programme was in danger of derailment,” he said.

Mahama said his administration introduced “stringent action” in its first quarter to bring the programme back into alignment with IMF requirements.

The president added that recent IMF review missions had assessed Ghana’s performance positively and that the programme was now awaiting final board approval for the release of a last tranche of $380 million.

“We believe that it is still a work in progress,” Mahama said, adding that Ghana’s economy still required significant reforms despite progress made under the programme.

Ghana secured a $3 billion IMF bailout programme in 2023 as the West African nation sought to stabilise its economy following a severe debt crisis, high inflation and a sharp depreciation of its currency.