Ghana’s Policy Elites and Engagement with the IMF Under the Fourth Republic: Elite Agency, Compliance, or a Mixed Bag?

In order to resolve structural imbalances in their economies, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa sought loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other financial institutions to combat the economic stagnation and crises that characterized the 1980s. As part of IMF Articles of agreement since the 1970s, borrowing governments are expected to unequivocally commit to implement curative policies that the IMF deems apposite for the improvement of the borrowing country’s external payments problems. These remedial policies known as “conditionalities” have become the most contentious feature of IMF lending. This chapter examines Ghana’s loan programs with the IMF in the Fourth Republic and the extent to which compliance and agency exist in negotiating and implementing loan conditionalities.