Bolgatanga Central legislator, Isaac Adongo has said that
the decision by the government to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is
the most sensible decision to take to deal with the economic challenges.
Although he said this
decision could have been taken earlier, the government should focus on how to
get a good programme to lift the country from the economic doldrums.
Speaking on the Key Points
on TV3 Saturday July 2, he said “The reality is that we ought to focus on how
to get Ghana out of this difficulty. We need to put our best foot forward in
order that we get a very good programme that will be a programme that will turn
things around and make Ghana better.
” I believe that the issues
around what you said before, what you did say before will go on but the most
important thing is that it was the most sensible decision to take.
“This was very late in
coming at the time they went top Peduase in March they needed to bite the
bullet but they came back with so-called programme called home-grown which was
just about cutting cost that really were not possible to cut. They talked about
raising 2billion dollars to deepen the reason for the programme because the
very reason for the programme was the fact that we had borrowed ourselves into
a tight corner and we were in a debt trap.”
Regarding the decision to
fall on the IMF, Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic
Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, Professor Peter Quartey, Ghanaians
should not to expect a rapid resolution of the economic challenges due.
He said it may take
sometime to witness the full benefits of the programme if the government goes
ahead to seek the assistance of the Fund.
“The IMF work together with
governments. Initially, the policies and everything were just handed over from
Washington to the respective countries, this has changed now. You have to
develop your own policies and engage with the IMF and they will tell you which
ones to take out, which ones to add and then you come to a consensus, based on
that they will say, we will fund your programme.
“That is done through
balance of payment support. It may take time, in the case of Sri Lanka, Sri
Lanka announced they were going to the IMF and today, they haven’t finished the
process,” he told TV3 in an interview on Friday July 1.
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has
been instructed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to
commence engagements with the Fund.
This followed a telephone
conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Miss
Kristalina Georgieva, conveying Ghana’s decision to engage with the Fund.
The Ministry of Information
announced this in a statement on Friday July 1.
Several analysts have
expressed their views on this matter.
For instance, a Former
Finance Minister Mr Seth Terkper has asked stakeholders to now pay particular
attention to the nature of proposal that the government will be submitting to
the IMF.
Mr Terkper indicated that
the engagement is not going to happen overnight.
It will take quite sometime
before conclusions are made, he said.
“The Funds were clearly
there and that is when we probably we could have gone earlier. I think that it
is important to know that we are where we are and therefore we can focus on the
proposal that government will be giving to the Fund. It is not a one week
thing, government will definitely, may have to make proposals,” he told Paa
Kwesi Asare on the News 360 on TV3 Friday
July 1.
In the view of Mr Terkper,
the decision to go to the Fund could have been made much earlier.
“I do agree with the
sentiments that we could probably, have gone to the Fund much earlier and the
situation would not have worsened,” he said.
The Dean of the Business
School at the University of Cape Coast, Professor John Gatsi said that the
decision to return to the Fund is an indication that the programmes and
measures outlined by the government to deal with the economic challenges are
not strong enough.
It also means that the
management of the economy has been difficult for the government, he added.
Speaking in an interview
with TV3’s Komla Adom on the mid day news Friday July 1, Prof Gatsi said “The
decision is clear to all of us that Ghana is heading towards the IMF,
officially from the President and then authenticated by Minister responsible
for Information.
“It has implications, the
implication is that the management of the economy has become very difficult,
our programmes are not potent enough to deal with the challenges therefore we
need credibility for our programmes, we need confidence to manage our economy
and that confidence is not coming from the programmes and strategies of the
government and that, the government believes that confidence to manage the economy
can be procured from the IMF.”
A Deputy
Minister of Finance, Mr John Kumah said an IMF programme would help the country
to come out from the economic challenges faster.
He said the government
hopes that the programme will benefit the country.
“Our objective as
government is to restore confidence in the economy and rebound it from the
difficulty, from the challenges, not only in Ghana but almost all economies
around the world.
“We believe that where we
stand now, an IMF intervention will help us come out quicker than we could. We
hope that it will benefit the country,” he told TV3’s Komla Adom on the mid day
news on Friday July 1.
Source:3news