ACCRA - A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to arrive in Accra on Tuesday to start talks with Ghanaian government representatives over an economic support package, Ghana's finance ministry said on Monday.

Ghana, one of West Africa's largest economies, had said on Friday it would hold formal talks with the IMF after hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against worsening economic hardship. It had previously refused to seek IMF support.

The government is committed to successfully negotiating a programme with the IMF "in the coming months", the ministry said in a statement.

Ghana, a gold, cocoa and oil producer, has been struggling with the ongoing economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, including rampant inflation and a depreciating currency. Analysts have said it is close to a debt crisis.

(Reporting by Cooper Inveen; Writing by Estelle Shirbon Editing by Gareth Jones)