In completing the review, the Executive Board approved a waiver of non-observance of the end-December 2025 performance criteria pertaining to the ceiling on Bank of Ghana (BoG) claims on the central government and public entities that was temporarily breached by a small margin due to cost-sharing arrangements under the domestic gold purchase program (DGPP). Based on the temporary nature of deviation and corrective actions carried out by the authorities.<\/p>\n
Completion of this review allows for an immediate and final disbursement of about $371 million (SDR 265.9 million), bringing Ghana\u2019s total disbursements under the arrangement to about $3 billion. The PCI will help anchor Ghana\u2019s continued reform agenda beyond the ECF, signalling a credible commitment to upper-credit-tranche-quality policies and helping catalyse donor and market financing.<\/p>\n
Ghana\u2019s ECF-supported program has delivered substantial stabilisation and debt-sustainability gains. Real GDP grew 6 per cent in 2025\u2014accelerating to 6.4 per cent year-on-year in 2026Q1\u2014driven by broad-based activity. Headline inflation fell to 5.4 per cent at end-2025 and to 5.3 per cent in June 2026, reflecting prudent monetary policy, cedi appreciation, and improved food supply.<\/p>\n
The current account posted a large surplus of 7.9 per cent of GDP in 2025, supported by historically high gold prices, and gross international reserves nearly doubled to US$11.9 billion (4 months of imports) by end-2025. The primary fiscal balance improved to a surplus of 2.1 per cent of GDP. Ghana\u2019s risk of external and overall debt distress has been upgraded to moderate, two years earlier than expected at program approval, as all debt indicators are below their LIC-DSF thresholds.<\/p>\n
The Ghanaian authorities have made significant progress on their comprehensive public debt restructuring. Debt relief agreements consistent with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) agreement have been signed with more than half of bilateral creditors, and agreements-in-principle have been reached with a similar share of external commercial creditors.<\/p>\n
Good-faith engagement with the remaining external commercial creditors is ongoing with a restructuring consistent with program parameters and comparability of treatment. In light of this progress and continued stabilisation gains, Ghana\u2019s debt risk rating has been upgraded to moderate.<\/p>\n
The 2026 budget targets a primary surplus of 1.5 per cent of GDP, consistent with program objectives and Ghana\u2019s new fiscal responsibility framework. Recent improvements in the debt trajectory have created carefully calibrated fiscal space under the PCI. This space will help Ghana address pressing development needs and strengthen social spending, while preserving attainment of Ghana\u2019s 45 per cent of GDP debt anchor by 2034.<\/p>\n
Lowering the primary surplus to 0.5 per cent of GDP from 2027 would remain consistent with safeguarding debt sustainability, provided that further progress is made in strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation, improving public financial management and investment management, and enhancing state-owned enterprise oversight\u2014particularly in the energy and cocoa sectors.<\/p>\n
The Bank of Ghana has cautiously eased its monetary policy stance as inflation has fallen within its target range. In collaboration with Fund staff, the BoG has operationalised a foreign exchange operations framework to help intermediate foreign exchange flows, smooth excessive market volatility, and support continued reserve accumulation.<\/p>\n
Safeguarding central bank independence remains critical to sustaining monetary policy credibility, including by implementing the transfer of the DGPP to GoldBod, permanently discontinuing quasi-fiscal activities, and fulfilling the commitment to recapitalise the BoG by 2032.<\/p>\n
Financial sector resilience has continued to improve, but vulnerabilities persist, particularly in some state-owned and private banks and among specialised deposit-taking institutions. Sustained supervisory action, decisive corrective measures, and the finalisation of the crisis management and resolution framework are essential to safeguard financial stability and support a durable recovery in credit intermediation. Governance and anti-corruption reforms have also advanced, including through the submission to Parliament of the revised Conduct of Public Officials bill. Timely and effective implementation of the reformed asset-declaration framework will be critical to strengthen transparency, accountability, and public trust.<\/p>\n
Following the Executive Board discussion on Ghana, Deputy Managing Director Bo Li issued the following statement:<\/p>\n
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