IMF exit: We will not celebrate with a kenkey party as others did — Mahama

Speaking during a citizens’ engagement at Ndewura Jakpa Senior High School on Saturday, May 23, President Mahama said his administration inherited an IMF-supported programme that was already facing significant difficulties and was on the verge of collapse when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) assumed office in January 2025.

According to the President, key performance indicators under the programme had veered far off track, compelling his government to implement tough but necessary measures to restore confidence and keep the programme on course.

“We inherited the IMF programme from the previous government. At the time we took over, all the agreed performance indicators were out of track, which meant that the programme was in danger of derailment so we had to take some stringent actions to bring it back into alignment and we were able to do that.”

President Mahama explained that after the corrective measures were introduced, successive IMF review missions acknowledged the progress made in stabilising the programme.

He added that the latest IMF mission, which concluded its work in Ghana last week, expressed satisfaction with the government’s performance, with recommendations now expected to be submitted to the IMF Executive Board for approval of the next disbursement.

“The missions that came approved the programme and the final mission just left Ghana last week and they have given us a satisfying mark and it is now going to the board to release the last tranche of $380 million to support our economy but we are not going to have a kenkey party because it is still work in progress.”