The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief for Ghana, Mr Stéphane Roudet, is optimistic that Ghana will soon formalise a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its bilateral creditors regarding the country’s debt restructuring programme.

Speaking to journalists in Washington DC, USA, during the Annual IMF/World Bank spring meetings, Mr Roudet expressed confidence that significant progress has been made in drafting an agreement with official creditors.

"We are confident that this will happen in the next few weeks in terms of formalising what happened in January this year for us to take it to the Board in June”, Mr Roudet

Said, assuring: “We are now more confident that we will be able to go to the IMF Board on Ghana’s programme."

He said: “It takes quite some time to put together the report and circulate it with the management and the Board. We are hopeful that something will happen in June”.

While acknowledging concerns about negotiations with commercial creditors potentially causing delays, Mr Roudet noted the importance of progressing on debt relief consistent with the IMF programme.

He highlighted the presence of good faith in negotiations with commercial creditors, underscoring the necessity for fiscal discipline, particularly in an election year.

Regarding election spending, Mr Roudet commended the government's commitment to fiscal discipline, noting past fiscal slippages during elections.

He observed positive changes in the government's fiscal stance and expressed hope that inflation decline, aligned with the IMF programme, would lead to a reduction in interest rates.

"We believe that as inflation continues to go down, that could force the Bank of Ghana to also reduce interest rates," Mr Roudet stated, pointing out the government's efforts to decrease reliance on the domestic market, which could contribute to lowering interest rates.