ACCRA (Reuters) – Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said on Thursday the government was committed to not seeking International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance to relieve its debt.
Ghana’s government in March announced a raft of spending cuts to tackle inflation, reduce deficit, restore a depreciating local currency and reassure spooked investors.
“We have committed to not going back to the fund because… the fund knows we are in the right direction,” he said at a media conference. “It’s about validating the program we have in place and finding other ways of handling our debt without going to the fund.”
The West African gold, oil and cocoa producer saw consumer inflation rise to an 18-year record of almost 24% in April despite efforts to contain price hikes and recover its debt-ridden economy.
(Reporting by Cooper Inveen; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by James Macharia Chege)
