Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a former finance minister, has recommended the government needs to think about approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout but cautions that it must be skillfully negotiated.
To prevent the economy from collapsing, the administration was advised by the opposition National Democratic Congress to approach the IMF rather than pinning its hopes on the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy).
However, the plan was rejected by the government.
Dr. Duffuor reaffirmed the necessity for the government to move swiftly with the IMF option before the economy deteriorates in an interview with Nana Aba Anamoah on Starr Chat on Wednesday.
The economy was not as terrible “as it is now and the cedi depreciated by only 60 pesewas,” according to Dr. Duffuor, who claimed to have taken the country to the IMF during his time as finance minister.
“There is no problem with the IMF program and unemployment has come down. The fear is that if we get into the IMF program they will not let us employ citizens. But this depends on what you negotiate; we were employing people in the health sector and the education sector.
“Otherwise, unemployment could not have dropped to 2.2, otherwise the cedi could not have been so stable for over four year period and our economy could not have grown so high. The GDP was first class,” Mr. Duffuor disclosed.
“So I don’t think the problem is with the fund but the nature of the program must be looked at carefully. You have to negotiate properly.
“Because right now, yes the economy has done well at 5.5% GDP growth even though we were expecting more than that. The budget deficit was supposed to be 12%, inflation is above 27plus. The cedi since January has gone down by 15% and our debt to GDP ratio is also not good.”
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Joseph Asare
