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Stabilising
the
Cedi
with
the
cash
received
from
the
International
Monetary
Fund
(IMF)
is
not
sustainable,
the
Director
of
Research
at
the
Institute
of
Economic
Affairs
(IEA)
Dr
John
Kwaye
has
said.
To
him,
Ghana
must
rely
heavily
on
its
natural
sources
for
foreign
exchange
to
stabilise
the
local
currency.
In
order
to
utilise
the
natural
resources,
he
said,
Ghanaian
authorities
must
work
to
ensure
that
Ghana
takes
full
ownership
of
the
resource
wealth.
In
a
post
on
his
X
platform,
Dr
Kwakye
said
“Relying
on
IMF
disbursements
to
bolster
the
cedi
isn’t
sustainable.
The
US$360
mn
inflow
is
peanuts
compared
with
our
FX
needs.
Taking
ownership
of
our
natural
resource
wealth
to
support
the
cedi
is
the
only
sustainable
option.
His
comments
follow
a
recent
report
that
a
series
of
positive
developments
–
including
a
significant
IMF
disbursement,
a
deal
struck
with
external
commercial
creditors
and
tapered
corporate
demand
–
have
collectively
helped
to
ease
pressure
on
the
cedi
(GH¢).
The
Cedi
is
reported
to
have
held
steady
against
the
US
dollar
(US$),
buoyed
by
improved
market
sentiments
as
FX
demand
eased.
This
stability
follows
the
IMF
board’s
approval
and
subsequent
release
of
funds
after
the
second
review
of
its
36-month
Extended
Credit
Facility
(ECF).
Recently
the
Bank
of
Ghana
received
the
$360
million
third
tranche
of
the
International
Monetary
Fund
(IMF).
The
central
bank
received
the
cash
by
the
close
of
Monday,
July
1.
IMF
Board
approves
Ghana’s
2nd
review,
$360m
to
hit
BoG’s
account
soon
The
Finance
Minister
Dr
Mohammed
Amin
Adam
had
announced
on
Monday
that
the
third
tranche
was
expected
to
hit
the
Bank
of
Ghana
account
by
the
close
of
today
Monday,
July
1.
He
said
this
during
a
joint
IMF,
Ministry
of
Finance,
and
BoG
press
conference
in
Accra
on
Monday,
July
1.
Addressing
the
press
,
he
said
“The
Cedi
has
been
under
pressure
in
recent
times,
however,
the
exchange
rate
has
largely
stabilised
since
2023.
Year-to
date
depreciation
of
the
cedi
against
the
US$
is
18.4%
compared
to
22.0%
recorded
in
the
same
period
in
2023.
“The
key
measures
we
are
implementing
to
deal
with
the
recent
depreciation
include:
tight
monetary
policy
by
the
BoG;
deepening
the
ongoing
fiscal
consolidation
programme;
intensifying
the
gold-for-oil
programme
and
the
BoG’s
gold-for-reserves
programme;
and
anticipated
Forex
inflows
from
disbursements
from
our
multilateral
and
bilateral
institutions
as
well
as
private
sector
financial
institutions.
“These
include
the
IMF
3rd
Tranche
of
US$360
million
which
will
be
disbursed
to
Ghana
by
close
of
business
today
Monday
1st
July
2024,
following
the
IMF
Executive
Board
approval
of
the
2nd
Review
last
Friday;
the
IMF
4th
Tranche
of
US$360
million
expected
in
Q4
of
2024
after
IMF
Executive
Board
approves
the
3rd
Review;
the
World
Bank
DP02
tranche
of
US$300
million
expected
in
Q3
of
2024;
and
disbursements
from
bilateral
institutions/financial
institutions
including
the
World
Bank
GARID
Project
(US$150
million),
EBID
facility
of
US$200
million
for
SME
support,
and
anticipated
proceeds
from
2024/2025
Cocobod
syndication
of
up
to
US$1.5
billion
in
Q4
of
2024.”