President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed any immediate plans to extend Ghana’s $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), stating that his administration remains focused on implementing the current program.

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In an interview with Bloomberg TV at the Munich Security Conference on Monday, President Mahama clarified that while a possible extension could be considered in the future, there are no active discussions in that regard.

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“We’ve not talked about an extension of the program. We are determined to continue with this program,” he stated. “If it’s necessary to look at additional funds or to extend the program, we’ll look at it, but for now we are determined to continue on this trajectory.”

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His remarks come amid ongoing engagements between Ghana and the IMF, with discussions centering on economic recovery strategies, debt restructuring, and tax reforms.

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A key issue under review is Ghana’s tax system, which Mahama believes needs restructuring to enhance revenue generation. He criticized the previous administration’s approach of imposing excessive taxes, arguing that it had backfired by discouraging compliance and reducing overall revenue.

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“Because of the target of achieving 24 percent revenue to GDP by 2028, the program required that revenue should continue increasing at a certain rate,” he explained.

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“Unfortunately, what the previous government had done was just to slap on more taxes, and we had gotten to a stage where the more taxes that were put on, the less revenue that came in. And so it’s necessary for us to look at the whole tax handle, rationalize them, make them more transparent, easy to understand, so that we can have better compliance.”

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To address this, Mahama revealed that the IMF has agreed to provide technical support in restructuring Ghana’s tax policies, ensuring greater efficiency and compliance for businesses and individuals.

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Tackling Ghana’s debt obligations remains a priority for the government, especially with domestic debt repayments exceeding $15 billion in 2025. Mahama assured that proactive steps are being taken to manage these obligations, including reactivating the country’s sinking fund to ease repayment pressures.

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“We also have the issue of the debt restructuring and humps that have been created this year, we have to pay in excess of 15 billion (dollars) on the domestic debt exchange,” he noted. “So what we’ve done is to reactivate the sinking fund and put more resources into it to take care of the repayments that have to be made this year.”

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Beyond debt repayment, Mahama stressed the need for fiscal discipline, emphasizing that government spending must be streamlined to eliminate waste and prioritize essential programs.

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“We must be more prudent in our handling of our finances, we must also look on the expenditure side and see how we can cut waste and also shift resources to more priority programmes,” he stated.

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With Ghana’s next budget presentation set for March, Mahama highlighted that it will incorporate recommendations from the IMF’s ongoing staff review. The fourth IMF review is expected in April, and the government is aligning its fiscal policies with insights from the assessment.

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“The next review, which will be the fourth review, is due in April, but before that, we’ll present the budget in March,” he explained. “So the budget will take into focus some of the issues that have come out from the staff mission. We’re hoping to receive the aid memoir today or tomorrow, and looking at the issues that IMF raises, we will incorporate them in the budget.”

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Despite economic hurdles, Mahama expressed confidence in Ghana’s working relationship with the IMF, describing it as “cordial.” He reiterated his administration’s commitment to implementing the ECF program successfully while ensuring economic stability and growth.

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