The Ashanti Regional Chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, has schooled former President John Mahama on reasons the government of President Akufo-Addo is seeking IMF bailout against his wish that it should be the last of its kind.
Mr. Antwi-Boasiako popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, stated in an interview with Wontumionline.com that the call by Mr. Mahama that this should be Ghana’s negotiation with IMF, can be classified as “galamsey economics”.
“What myopic thinking is this? Mahama doesn’t seem to understand what is driving all other countries to the IMF. I believe because he eats and sleeps because the government of President Akufo-Addo is taking care of the food on his table, he talks like someone who practices galamsey”, Chairman Wontumi said.
According to Chairman Wontumi, even when the world had not be struck by any catastrophe, the government of former President John Mahama went to the IMF for a bailout.
“Due to mismanagement, the NDC government under John Mahama went to the IMF. But Ghana under Nana Akufo-Addo has gone there due the economic pressure that has hit every economy across the globe”, Chairman Wontumi said.
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has stated that a deal between Ghana and the IMF should be reached and finalized before the end of the year.
In a close door meeting with the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Monday, 5th September 2022, on the sidelines of the Africa Adaptation Summit, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the IMF boss told President Akufo-Addo “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.”
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 from some opposition elements 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.
However, former President, John Dramani Mahama, says Ghana’s current negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should be the last of its kind.
According to him, the country must create sustainable policies to keep the economy afloat, without ever resorting to the IMF.