The International Monetary Fund's executive board completed the final review of Ghana's economic reform program and authorized an immediate $371 million disbursement. The payment brings total financing under the three-year arrangement to $3 billion since the program began in May 2023.
The Fund assessed Ghana's overall performance as broadly satisfactory. It cited substantial progress in macroeconomic stabilization and debt sustainability, including a sharp reduction in inflation and an almost twofold increase in reserves by the end of 2025.
Fiscal and debt indicators also improved. Ghana recorded a primary budget surplus, while its risk of debt distress returned to a moderate level after the crisis that led the government to seek external support.
Economic activity accelerated during the adjustment. The economy expanded by 6 percent in 2025 and by 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026, with growth spread across multiple sectors as reforms supported by the Extended Credit Facility took effect.
The board nevertheless approved a waiver for Ghana's failure to meet one end-December 2025 performance criterion. Claims by the Bank of Ghana on the central government and public entities temporarily exceeded the agreed ceiling by a small margin.
The deviation resulted from cost-sharing arrangements under the domestic gold purchase program. The waiver reflected both the temporary and limited nature of the breach and the corrective measures taken by Ghanaian authorities.
The completed program was designed to reverse a downturn that began in late 2021 and included rapidly increasing public debt, fiscal slippage, high inflation and foreign-exchange instability. Ghana's position as an exporter of cocoa, gold and crude oil makes the durability of stabilization important for both public finances and external earnings.
The final disbursement closes the financing sequence, but it does not end the policy challenge. Sustaining the gains will require Ghana to preserve fiscal discipline, avoid renewed central-bank financing pressures and turn stronger growth and reserves into lasting debt resilience.
