Ghana to receive $215m World Bank budget support

Ghana will receive $215 million from the World Bank to support the country’s budget.

The World Bank says its board approved the Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC) Thursday in Washington.

The goal of the credit it says, is to support the government of Ghana’s efforts to consolidate ongoing fiscal stabilization and promote the development objectives set in the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA). The GSGDA is Ghana’s medium term development policy framework for 2010-2013.

According to the World Bank, over the last decade it has given Ghana a total of six Poverty Reduction Support Credits, averaging $100 million per year in budget support between 2003 and 2008, to support implementation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I and II).

After the fiscal crisis of 2008, an agreement was reached to increase budget support in a countercyclical manner to help Ghana reduce its macro-imbalances in a way that does not hurt growth, the process of job creation, and the poor.

Accordingly, a record total support of $300 million was delivered in 2009, and $215 million now. It is expected that this particular support will continue to fall in the future as the macro-imbalances continue to be reduced, and that its efforts will shift back towards support for job creation, the Bank added.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi