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Ghana Foreign Assistance and Loans
Ghana's economic well-being and recovery program were closely
tied to significant levels of foreign loans and assistance,
especially from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Altogether, between 1982 and 1990 foreign and multilateral donors
disbursed a total of approximately US$3.5 billion in official
development assistance; at the same time, the country's external
debt reached US$3.5 billion. By 1991, the largest bilateral donors
were Germany, the United States, Japan, and Canada, which together
provided Ghana with US$656 million in development assistance. The
largest multilateral donors in 1991 included the European
Community, the IMF, and the International Development Association,
which furnished almost US$435 million to Ghana.
In addition, the government obtained five IMF programs
amounting to approximately US$1.6 billion: three standby loans,
simultaneous Extended Fund Facility and Structural Adjustment
Facility loans, and an Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility loan
in 1988. The government signed more than twenty policy-based
program loans with the World Bank. The World Bank also sponsored
six consultative group meetings; the first, held in November 1983,
resulted in pledges of US$190 million. Between 1984 and 1991,
almost US$3.5 billion more was raised at five additional meetings.
In 1991 Ghana successfully raised the country's first
syndicated loan in almost twenty years in the amount of US$75
million. The loan's collateral was a proportion of the country's
cocoa crop. Special arrangements were made to ensure that a
specific amount of the crop was purchased using letters of credit.
Then in March 1992, the IMF announced that following the expiration
of Ghana's third and final arrangement under the Enhanced
Structural Adjustment Facility, Ghana needed no further IMF
financing. Even so, the Ghanaian government asked the IMF to
monitor progress on the country's economic program and to continue
policy dialogue.
In early 1994, Ghana accepted the obligations of Article VIII
of the IMF's Articles of Agreement. According to the IMF, Ghana
will no longer impose restrictions on payments and transfers for
current international transactions or engage in discriminatory
currency arrangements or multiple currency practice without IMF
approval. Ghana's decision undoubtedly will enhance its image with
foreign investors and bankers.
Data as of November 1994
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