Ghana’s top economic managers have used the just-concluded IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok to assure international investors and development partners that the country will maintain its hard-won macroeconomic stability, even as the IMF’s financing programme has ended.
Bank of Ghana Governor Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama and Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson outlined a series of commitments—from cutting banks’ non-performing loan ratios to building foreign reserves equivalent to 15 months of imports—against which the recovery will now be judged .
Stabilisation Gains at Stake
The figures underscore the scale of Ghana’s turnaround. Inflation has fallen from 23.8% at end-2024 to 5.2%, public debt has dropped from 73.1% of GDP before the domestic debt exchange to 45.9%, and the central bank’s policy rate has been halved from 28% to 14% .
“Ghana has made substantial progress in restoring macroeconomic stability,” Dr. Asiama told investors at a Barclays roundtable on the sidelines of the meetings. “Our responsibility now is to make that progress durable by maintaining policy discipline” .
Banking Sector Clean-Up Deadline
The most immediate test is the banking sector. The Governor said regulated financial institutions have been directed to bring their non-performing loan ratios below 10% by the end of December. The ratio has already fallen from 20.8% to 15.7%, but meeting the target would require a further cut of almost six percentage points in roughly ten weeks .
The central bank also wants the rebound in lending to reach the real economy. Private sector credit grew 36.4% in the year to August, to GH¢124.2 billion, up from 13.3% growth a year earlier, while average lending rates have fallen from 24.2% to 15.9% .
“Our priority is to ensure that this recovery in credit supports productive investment, business expansion and employment,” Dr. Asiama said .
Reserve Accumulation Challenge
On reserves, the Governor reaffirmed the central bank’s commitment to the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme, the gold-backed plan launched in February that targets import cover of 15 months by the end of 2028.
That remains a steep climb. Gross international reserves stood at about US$12 billion as of 22 September, equivalent to roughly 4.5 months of imports. Reaching the target in just over two years would require reserves to more than triple at current import levels .
Much depends on the Ghana Gold Board, which supplied US$1.17 billion to the central bank in September alone. But the Board has signalled that more of its dollars will go to commercial banks in October to support the cedi, highlighting the tension between steadying the currency today and building buffers for tomorrow .
Fiscal Credibility Beyond the IMF
On the fiscal side, Dr. Forson met IMF African Department Director Zeine Zeidane and said he had “reaffirmed our commitment to the fiscal credibility, discipline and bold reforms powering Ghana’s economic turnaround” .
The minister set the bar above the IMF’s own upgraded forecast. “The IMF has upgraded Ghana’s 2026 growth forecast from 4.6% to 5.7%. We are confident we will exceed that projection,” he said .
The government’s recent record lends some weight to those words. The primary surplus reached 1.4% of GDP between January and July, against a target of 0.2%, while the overall deficit was 0.2% of GDP, well inside a 1.9% ceiling .
From Stabilisation to Growth
Keeping that discipline will be harder without IMF financing. Ghana’s US$3 billion Extended Credit Facility ended in May and has been replaced by a 36-month Policy Coordination Instrument, which provides IMF monitoring but no money . The PCI includes reform pillars covering fiscal discipline, debt sustainability, monetary frameworks, financial sector stability, and economic diversification .
Dr. Forson has framed the shift as a move from repair to growth. “Stabilisation was never the destination. It was the price of entry,” he said ahead of the meetings. Details of the government’s New Economy programme are expected in the 2027 Budget in the first week of November .
The commitments were well received by investors, who are watching whether Ghana can sustain its reform momentum without the external anchor of an IMF financing arrangement.
