It is now very clear that, the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo government will renegotiate Ghana’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is according to the senior minister designate Mr. Yaw Osafo -Maafo.
Mr. Osafo -Maafo made this known, when he took his turn to be vetted by Parliament’s Appointments Committee.
According to Mr. Osofo Marfo “the IMF program will certainly be reviewed and there are two main reasons why the IMF program must be reviewed. And I have already hinted to one of the bosses of the IMF. President Nana Akufo Addo came out with a manifesto and in that manifesto, he needs physical space to move it. The current program literally squeezes all the physical space out.”
He added that, “therefore from the point of view of the program of the NPP, the IMF program must be reviewed,” he said.
The government of Ghana in 2015 signed a 918 million dollar extended credit facility program with the IMF which was aims to restore debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability all to foster a return to high growth and job creation, while protecting social spending.
Even though the deal according to the legislature did not receive their approval, has seen Ghana so far receive about US$464.6 million as disbursements from the IMF.
Some civil society groups have also expressed strong reservations about the ongoing IMF programme which has raised concerns that it will be reviewed under the NPP tenure.
Meanwhile the calls for renegotiation of the deal however has attracted mixed reactions from economists. One of the economist who has been against the renegotiation of the IMF deal is Dr. Lord Mensah, who is a University of Ghana Business School earlier told the B&FT that the renegotiating the ongoing IMF deal is not needed because the IMF programme is yet to mature and the deal must be allowed to mature before any changes could be made to it.
Even though the current outgoing administration could not reap the full benefits of the three-year US$918 million Extended Credit Facility programme, the administration, led by Akufo-Addo- is likely to reap the fruits of the programme, Dr. Mensah told the B&FT.
“Let me make this very clear; when it comes to the IMF and its allied agencies, it is not the government that goes into negotiation, but it is the country. The government which was voted by the people, always in such case, represents the country; so, a new administration does not mean that the agreement has to be cancelled.”
“Personally, I don’t think it is something that we need to consider — we have to allow it to roll, let’s realize its maturity,” he added.
