Govt. Is Rather Soliciting Technical Assistance From The IMF - Deputy Finance Minister

Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Cassiel Ato Forson has debunked claims that the Government of Ghana is seeking a bailout with the International Monetary Fund as panacea for the current economic meltdown. Mr. Ato Forson refuted any report that purports that the Mahama led National Democratic Congress government has abandoned its homegrown strategy to revamp the crippling economy. According to the Deputy Finance Minister, Ghana is rather soliciting technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the government’s pragmatic steps targeted at bringing growth to the economy. Speaking on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo”, the Deputy Finance Minister explained that the government would not in any way neglect its much-touted homegrown measures but rather employing the help of the IMF which would assist in monetary terms including other strategies that the organization may offer to improve the economy. The Monday edition of the Daily Guide newspaper captioned “Mahama Runs to IMF; For Bail-Out, Bawumia Vindicated” read that the “Mahama National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has finally decided to seek refuge with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after running down the economy. “Currently, the Ghana Cedi has been ranked as the worst performing currency in the world after that of conflict-prone Ukraine, by some international financial institutions and the economy is in tatters as all sectors are virtually grinding to a halt.” IMF Officials warned in January when they came to Ghana that by June/August this year if the nation did not seek for their support, the economy may reach deadlock. The newspaper also stated; “the IMF bailout will come with stringent conditions such as job cuts in the public service in order to reduce the wage bill and also place a cap on the amount of loans Ghana can contract, with the public debt now hovering around GHC 65 billion (almost 60 percent of the GDP ratio).” It could also be recalled that in view of the economic challenges, the Running Mate to the NPP’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the 2012 general elections, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia predicted in March that the NDC government may have to rely on the IMF should the economic situation remain unchanged. “I would like to repeat without exaggeration that the Ghanaian economy is in a crisis. It is time for serious action. If government does not take the right decisions and soon, then Ghana would likely have to approach the IMF for a bailout before the end of the year,” Dr. Bawumia said. But the Deputy Finance Minister, Mr. Ato Forson has called on all Ghanaians to embrace the move by the government, assuring them that their negotiations with the IMF will inure to the benefit of the economy. To him, the Government of Ghana is not acting at the mercy of the IMF but rather collective joining hands to revive the economy. He further noted that there would not be any serious conditionalities from the IMF on Ghana due to the nation’s middle-income status, and also argued that Ghana is not the only country to seek for IMF’s help. “Even advanced countries go to IMF. England has been with IMF before. In fact, even when you go to Greece and other countries, they also go to the IMF. It’s nothing new to us. We will not be the first oil producing country or a country which has begun producing to have gone to the IMF.”

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana