President John Mahama has urged the incoming administration to continue with Ghana’s Extended Credit Facility arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until the end of this year.

According to him, continuity in the implementation of the deal will ensure debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability in the Ghanaian economy.

“We entered the IMF agreement with the best of intentions and it is important that we continue a diligent implementation of the IMF programme until the end of 2017,” he told parliament in his last State of the Nation Address Thursday.

A total of US$918 million is being disbursed to Ghana under the three-year programme with the Breton wood institution.

The president also noted that his government could not achieve its growth target for 2016 due to the shortfalls in revenue collections.

“We could not achieve the targets we set for ourselves due to the inability to achieve revenue targets and also the inability to draw the full expectation of oil from the Jubilee Fields”.

Mr. Mahama who is so far Ghana’s first one term President leaves office on Saturday January 7, after losing the December 2016 elections.

Nana Akufo-Addo who won at his third attempt at the presidency will be sworn in at the Black Star Square on January 7.