Accra: Director of International Investments LLC, Ibrahim Adjei, has urged the Government of Ghana to consider utilizing the country's current import cover to repay its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He argues that this would liberate Ghana from programme restrictions and allow for greater policy independence.
According to Ghana Web, Adjei's comments come amidst signs of economic recovery in Ghana, highlighted by improved foreign exchange reserves and a more stable cedi. These developments have been supported by the Bank of Ghana's gold reserve accumulation programme. Recently, the central bank has increased its domestic gold purchases as part of a broader strategy to bolster external financial buffers.
In an interview on Channel One TV on May 18, 2026, Adjei asserted that Ghana's enhanced external reserves present an opportunity for the nation to extricate itself from IMF conditionalities after completing its US$3 billion bailout programme. This programme was introduced to stabilize the economy during one of its most severe financial crises in decades.
Adjei posed a critical question about Ghana's financial strategy: 'How can we afford to fully extricate ourselves and decouple from the IMF and its machinations? We should pay the loan off completely.' He emphasized that Ghana now possesses the financial capacity to take bold steps towards greater economic autonomy, citing the country's reserve position as a facilitating factor.
Adjei noted that Ghana currently has about six months of import cover, and he questioned the logic of remaining indebted to the IMF when the country cannot recruit freely due to these obligations. 'This import cover is based on our reserves, the money we have. So why not use it to pay off the debt?' he stated.
While acknowledging that the IMF programme helped restore macroeconomic discipline, Adjei warned that ongoing policy oversight by the Fund could limit the government's ability to respond to domestic priorities. These priorities include public sector recruitment, social spending, and industrial expansion.
The IMF-supported programme, approved in 2023, provided essential balance-of-payments support and anchored fiscal reforms, debt restructuring, and inflation control measures. It also helped restore investor confidence following Ghana's debt distress and sovereign default concerns, which had triggered a severe economic downturn.