A former Finance minister under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government has suggested to the government to solicit input from experts beyond the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) as it engages the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.
The government, Seth Terkper said, must hold a national forum to help solicit non-partisan inputs before meeting the IMF team.
On Friday (1 July 2022), Ghana announced that it is officially seeking support from the IMF to help address the economic crisis.
The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the president had “authorised Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to commence formal engagements” with the IMF.
The announcement followed a phone conversation between Akufo-Addo and the president of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, he said.
“If we really want to make this IMF issue strictly non partisan then I would suggest that the stalwarts on both sides be engaged on a national forum so that the brains come from all sides,” Terkper said on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (4 July).
“Most of the discussions that we are making have already been touched upon by some academics; let us engage them and get the experience on board to facilitate Ghana’s future,” he told the show host, Kwaku Nhyira-Addo.
He added: “A national forum will give us the opportunity to come to a consensus that will better place us in discussing terms with the IMF. This is my opinion, which John Mahama has already suggested.”
A team from the International Monetary Fund will arrive in Ghana on Wednesday 6 July 2022 to commence negotiations with the Government of Ghana on the modalities for a package to support Ghana’s economy, Asaase News can confirm.
Ghana’s decision to opt for an IMF programme has been greeted with mixed reactions, with concern about what it may mean for public sector jobs and social programmes.
However, most economists have welcomed the measure as a necessary pill.
Checks by Asaase News suggest that the announcement by Ghana may trigger similar announcements from other countries on the African continent whose economies are experiencing similar challenges to Ghana’s, with fiscal challenges worsened by the dual impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and the adverse effects of both, with rising energy and food prices.
African nations such as Egypt, Tunisia, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, Seychelles, Mali, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique are among countries on the continent which are already on an IMF programme.
