According to former president John Dramani Mahama, the Akufo-Addo administration is forced to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to address its economic problems. According to Mr. Mahama, IMF programs include fiscal consolidation and a need for budgetary restraint, which can result in some improvement and a rebound on the macroeconomic front.
“Some regime actors have been talking in the last few days about a possible or approaching IMF program. This government essentially has no other sustainable option given the nature and severity of our economic difficulties. IMF plans include fiscal consolidation and a requirement for budgetary restraint, which may result in some macroeconomic recovery and advancements.
The 2020 presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), however, stated at a conference in Accra on Thursday, June 30, “Fiscal consolidation alone will not do the trick. This government has so mismanaged our economy and left it in such a bad shape.
On Monday, June 27, Gabby Otchere Darko, a prominent member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), declared that, in theory, he was not opposed to the IMF program. Gabby clarified that he opposes an IMF program that provides the nation with pitiful aid but sets restrictions that will ultimately harm the poor, employment opportunities, and enterprises more.
He wrote in a series of tweets, “Am I in principle against an IMF program? No. “I oppose an IMF program that offers us pitiful sums of money while imposing requirements that would ultimately harm the poor, employment opportunities, and businesses more. The Covid-19 and the Ukraine War are more to our demise than to that of Africa.
Programs that claim to be entirely our own work are doomed to fail. We take action that will boost our ability to weather this powerful storm, and that action ought to take place quite soon. Do you object to an IMF program?”
Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s finance minister, has stated that his country will not request assistance from the IMF again. According to him, the government has implemented policies, such as pay reductions and others, as well as programs to address the key economic problems.
At a press conference in Accra on May 12, Mr. Ofori-Atta made these comments in response to a question on whether Ghana would think about returning to the IMF from an international journalist. He responded by saying, “All the white people are merely interested in us joining the IMF program. Why, I constantly wonder.
“We are fund members, and the fund has provided us with two main areas of action. The first is the advice we receive as a result of the extraordinary knowledge the fund possesses, and the second is these program interventions that provide us with resources.
“I believe that the issue of Ghana’s capacity to think through the consolidation process exists, as can be seen by the budget that we created for 2022 and the subsequent declaration that we made. Also practice self-discipline in light of the 20%, etc., that we have amply demonstrated.
He added, “We have promised not to return to the fund because, in terms of actions and policy, we are already there, and the fund is fully aware that we are moving in the right route. Validating the programs we have implemented is key, and after that, in my opinion, we need support in finding new ways to finance or refinance our debt.
Link: https://3news.com/govt-has-no-option-but-to-go-to-imf-mahama/
What do you think?
Content created and supplied by: barbaraagyeman006 (via Opera
News )