The Minority in Parliament has doubted the government’s ability to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board approval by the end of March as indicated by the President during the presentation of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on March 8.
According to the Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam, Mr. Cassiel Ato Forson, there are conditions precedents which Ghana must meet in order to secure the IMF deal.
Dr. Forson said Ghana would, first of all, need some assurances from China that it was ready to accept a haircut, and secondly, a financing assurance from the Paris Club, which includes Germany.
The Minority Leader noted that these conditions had not been met, because China had not agreed to the haircut, neither had the Paris Club given any financial assurances, pointing out that Germany, which was a critical member of the Club, had advised the government to cut down it expenditure.
Based on this, Dr. Ato Forson stated categorically that the country would not get an IMF approval by the end of the month.
“Mr. Speaker, our President said it is his hope that Ghana, in fact he did not even say it is his hope, he said on authority that Ghana will be getting the IMF Board approval by the end of this month. Mr. Speaker, I don’t know who is briefing his Excellency the President. Someone is doing a terrible job. Ghana will not get an IMF Board approval by the end of this month.
“…Because, Mr. Speaker, even the Board documents have not been prepared. There are things we need to meet. There are things we need to meet, and this is what we call financing assurances. We need to get China to give us an assurance that [they are] ready to accept a haircut, and China has not agreed; China has not agreed. We are also expected, as a country, to get financing assurance from the Paris Club, which includes Germany…”
He made the comments while winding up the debate on the SONA last Friday in Parliament.
It would be recalled that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, while presenting the message on the State of the Nation in Parliament on March 8, expressed the optimism that Ghana would present to the IMF Executive Board its US$3 billion bailout programme, having secured a Staff Level agreement late last year.
“We are on course for the IMF Staff to present to the IMF Executive Board Ghana’s programme request for a $3 billion extended credit facility by the end of the month,” the President said.
But, last Friday, Dr. Forson dashed those hopes and questioned who had been feeding the President with such information.
The Minority Leader pointed out that Ghana’s bond had been downgraded to junk, making its credit worthiness useless, to the extent that some individuals were more credit worthy and could secure loans than the Government of Ghana.
He, therefore, called on the Akufo-Addo government to fix the economy, by suggesting the cutting down on government size and its expenditure as one of the ways to do so.
In response, the Majority Leader, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said that, indeed, the country was experiencing hardship, but things could turn around if the citizens put aside unnecessary politicisation of issues and come together to help- build the country.
“One must own up to the fact that there is some darkness now but there is light at the end of the tunnel if we hold together and not become unnecessarily partisan…We must come together when the need arises for us to come together to build the country because we are one people and we have one country,” the Majority Leader said.
He, therefore, called on Ghanaians to come on board and help turn the story around for the betterment of all.
