Mr John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), would visit Ghana on February 16-17 as part of a two-nation West African tour that begins in Monrovia, Liberia,
on February 14-16.
A press release issued by the IMF External Relations Department, said he would hold discussions with policy makers and key opinion leaders on the countries' economic prospects.
It said in Monrovia, Mr Lipsky would meet with the government of Liberia and parliamentarians, as well as the international community and the private
sector.
It said these discussions would focus on actions to help Liberia overcome the impact of the financial crisis, foster growth and to complete
the IMF-supported debt reduction initiative.
Mr Lipsky would also meet students at the University of Liberia.
In Accra, Mr Lipsky would meet with political leaders and the economic management team to discuss the country's prospects in the context of the
authorities' current economic programme, which is supported by the Fund under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF).
The statement said he would also address members of parliament and participate in a roundtable with civil society organizations.
It said in both countries, Mr Lipsky would discuss how African countries had been impacted by the global economic crisis, how they have responded to it, and how the IMF can partner with them to support their return to sustainable growth and development.
The release noted that over the past year, the IMF had significantly increased assistance to African countries to help deal with the effects of
the financial crisis and streamlined its concessional lending to low-income countries, most of which are in Africa.