The Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has given the go ahead for Ghana to officially exit the programme, in relation to the Fund’s agreement with the West African country in 2015.

Mr. Yaw Osafo Maafo, the Senior Minister and Vice-Chairman of Ghana’s Economic Management Team, said the decision was reached by the world’s financial body on Wednesday, March 20, 2019.

The development, he said, was borne out of the country’s success in meeting the benchmarks set under the agreement, including structural reforms to strengthen public finances and preserving financial sector stability.

Ghana’s ability to enhance fiscal discipline by improving budget transparency, cleaning-up and controlling the payroll, as well as right-sizing the civil service and improving revenue generation, were other factors considered by the IMF Board.

“We are now masters of our own economy,” Mr. Osafo Maafo noted, when he addressed the opening session of the Sixth Annual Conference and Exhibition of the Ghana Insurance Brokers Association (GIBA), on Thursday in Kumasi.

Ghana in 2015, entered into a three-year agreement with IMF for US$918 million with the view to helping to restore macro-economic stability and policy credibility.

“Capitalization; what is adequate?” was the theme for this year’s conference.

Mr. Osafo Maafo, giving a general outlook of the nation’s economy, said Ghana was targeting a 7.5 per cent growth in the Gross Domestic Product for this year.

“Our economy in spite of the prevailing challenges such as depreciation of the Ghana Cedi, is one of the fastest growing on the African continent,” he hinted, and emphasized that the government was focused on doing the right thing.

The Senior Minister gave the assurance that the government had stepped up efforts to creating a healthy environment for the insurance industry to thrive.

Mrs. Lena Adu-Kofi, the President of GIBA, appealed to the National Insurance Commission (NIC) to assist the insurance market with vibrant policies and framework to optimize potentials of the industry.

She said there was the need to shield local businesses, especially the retail broking sector from foreign companies.

In addition, corporate agents who have no minimum capital requirements to meet, must be strictly supervised and restricted to handling only issues within their purview.

The GIBA President said in the case of any breach, there should be punitive actions against companies that came into conflict with the law to deter others from doing same.

Baffour Owusu Amankwatia VI, Bantamahene, who chaired the programme, advised that insurance companies who were underperforming to consider merging to boost their financial muscle.

Source: GNA