The global financial crisis which affected most economies in 2008 has witnessed the resurgence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to its earlier global relevance of providing financing for Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP).
Ghana, considered as the hub of IMF success stories in sub-Saharan Africa, borrowed a whopping US$602 million under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in 2009 to address structural imbalances in her economy. This was barely two years after Ghana exited the Fund’s supported programmes. Ghana’s u-turn to the IMF in 2009 raised numerous questions given the concerns about the impact of IMF conditionalities on the Ghanaian economy. ActionAid Ghana accordingly commissioned this study to ascertain the implications of the recent IMF loan and conditionalities on the poor and vulnerable in Ghana.
This report seeks to establish the facts about IMF conditionalities attached to the loan; and investigate the implications of the loan on the poor and vulnerable. The report also explores alternative sources of resource mobilization to the Government of Ghana (GoG) and provides some specific recommendations for the attention of stakeholders.