The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is only going to tell Ghana that the country’s spending far exceeds the revenues that are generated, former Managing Director of the Stanbic Bank, Alhassan Andani has said.
This is the fact that no one in Ghana has had the strength of character and conviction to say, he said.
Speaking on the Business Focus with Paa Kwesi Asare on TV3, Mr Andani said “We have to have adult conversations, whether you are a political party, with the electorate before you are elected and when you are in power, have adult conversations.
“All the interventions that we bring the IMF or other bilateral to tell us, nothing new, it is just that none of us have had the strength of character or conviction to say what IMF will come and tell us. All IMF will come and tell us is that, your fiscal which is your expenditure is far ahead of your revenue. Does it take you, as a landlord to understand that if you have disposable income of a Thousand Cedis you shouldn’t be going to the market to spend Two Thousand Cedis?
“That is exactly what is happening. We have fiscal regimes which totally mismatch expenditure revenue consistently. It is because we promise things that we have not gotten the capacity to generate taxes to make.”
Ghana is seeking a programme under the Fund to deal with the current economic challenges
The Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva stated that a deal between Ghana and the IMF should be reached and finalized before the end of the year.
In a closed-door meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, September 5, on the sidelines of the Africa Adaptation Summit, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, she told him “we understand the urgency, and we will move as quickly as possible”.
Describing Ghana as a “superb country”, she reiterated the determination of the Fund to work with Government and the Ministry of Finance, and ensure that an agreement is in place before the end of the year.
On his part, President Akufo-Addo indicated to the IMF boss that a lot of work has been done by Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance, and the document to be presented by the Ghana side “is ready for the scrutiny of the IMF”.
Constructive meeting w/ Finance Minister Ofori-Atta & his team on Ghana’s economic challenges and the way forward.
We are ready to do our part to help the authorities stabilize the economy, lay the ground for stronger growth & help the most vulnerable. pic.twitter.com/ueQ4d3uY8k
— Kristalina Georgieva (@KGeorgieva) August 26, 2022
Meanwhile, Kristalina Georgieva has emphasized that Ghana’s current economic challenges are not locally generated but from external shocks.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Fund’s engagements with the Ghanaian delegation, Kristalina Georgieva stated that contrary to the narrative that Ghana is not in these challenges because of any bad policies of the Akufo-Addo administration, the IMF boss stated that the factors are exogenous.
“We have started very constructive discussions already and to the people of Ghana, like everybody on this planet, you have been hurt by exogenous shocks,” she said.
She mentioned the extraneous factors which have contributed to Ghana’s economic woes, leading to the West African country seeking a programme from the IMF.
“First the pandemic, then Russia’s war in Ukraine. We need to realize that it is not because of bad policies in the country but because of this combination of shocks, and, therefore, we have to support Ghana,” she said.
She also indicated that Ghana is a member of the IMF, “a strong country with fantastic people”, and as such it is incumbent on the Fund to lend the country support.
Kristalina Georgieva also indicated “we have to support Ghana because your strength contributes to the strength of your neighbours; it contributes to a stronger world”.
Ghana is before the IMF for $3 billion to help the country navigate through the hostile economic crisis it finds itself in as a result of the adverse effects of the deadly coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana
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