Senior fellow Todd Moss was quoted in an AllAfrica.com article on Ghana.
From the Article
The government has been urged to begin discussions with the World Bank management on the graduation process from a low income country status to that of middle income.
According to experts, the country has to seek clarification on expectations as the country graduates from International Development Assistance (IDA) of the World Bank on how to repay loans which were accessed during the period under IDA and also how to access funds from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). This is important in ensuring consideration of the full range of implications and obligations for early repayments and potential for access to IBRD.
Additionally, the government has been encouraged to plan for its aid exit from other donors over the medium term, as well as focus on domestic revenue generation to replace any lost revenue streams.
Similarly, Ghana has to aggressively pursue oil sector and financial management reforms to maximize revenue, improve public expenditure quality and enhance investor confidence about the future risks as the country graduate from IDA to its new status.
These submissions were made by Dr. Todd Moss, Vice President of the Center for Global Development, USA, at a roundtable discussion organized by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA).
Speaking on the theme "Ghana's Middle-Income Status: Prospects and Implications", Dr. Moss indicated that Ghana's economy has been growing faster than anticipated and this came with new responsibilities. "With the rebasing and the discovery of oil in commercial quantity, the country has now moved from Low Income Country (LIC) to Lower Middle Income Country (LMIC) of which we need to be celebrating instead of being worried about the new status."
With the new status, Ghana in the next three to five years will graduate from IDA, and therefore not qualify for concessionary loans and other assistance that the country enjoyed when it was a low income country.