Accra: The Ministry of Finance has commissioned the Auditor-General and two international audit firms to audit the payables and commitments to validate their legitimacy and values and provide recommendations for corrective measures. The audit is expected to be completed within eight weeks.
According to Ghana News Agency, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Minister for Finance, speaking at the MOF-IMF joint press conference on the 4th review of the IMF-Supported Programme, said the government remained committed to the implementation of the Programme. The IMF mission, which began on April 2, 2025, was successfully concluded on April 15, 2025. The IMF staff and the Ghanaian authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the fourth review of Ghana's economic programme under the Extended Credit Facility arrangement.
The team, led by Mr. St©phane Roudet, Mission Chief for Ghana, discussed progress on the authorities' policy and reform priorities in the context of the fourth review of Ghana's three-year program under the Extended Credit Facility. Dr. Forson said the government would ensure that its objectives remained on track, despite the challenges faced with implementation.
The Minister announced that the government had passed an amendment to the Procurement Act to ensure that the issuance of commitment authorisation by the Minister for Finance was a prerequisite for all central government procurements under the Authority or the Central Tender Review Committee. Additionally, an amendment to the PFM Act 2016 (Act 921) was introduced to establish a debt rule aimed at reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio to 45 per cent by 2035, alongside the creation of an independent fiscal council to monitor adherence to these fiscal rules.
Dr. Forson noted that the Ministry had commenced the operationalisation of the Compliance Desk to monitor MDAs' compliance with their fiscal commitments under the PFM Act. He mentioned plans to publish a PFM Commitment Control Compliance League Table, ranking MDAs based on their compliance levels.
The Minister highlighted several structural reforms that were expected to be completed by end-December 2024 and end-March 2025. He said the government had migrated 549 MDAs and MMDAs' spending units' accounts into Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System. He also mentioned that the PURC had published the validation report of the ECG revenue/collection accounts audit and executed quarterly tariff adjustments to satisfy the Structural Benchmark conditionality under the programme.
Acknowledging the fiscal risks in the energy sector, Dr. Forson stated that the government had instituted measures to address the shortfall by operationalising the single account mechanism and ensuring the Cash Waterfall Mechanism's adherence to guarantee minimum contractual payments.
Dr. Forson assured Ghanaians, IMF, and other key stakeholders of his commitment to leading the charge in implementing all commitments under the Fund-supported programme, necessary for the approval of the 4th review by the IMF Board. The approval will lead to the immediate disbursement of the 5th Tranche of US$370 million, bringing total disbursements under the programme to US$2.3 billion. He commended the IMF Mission Team for their support and constructive engagement throughout the 4th Review Mission.
