Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister of Agriculture has said that Ghanaians will soon thank the New Patriotic Party for enlisting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help its economic programs.
Dr. Akoto urges Ghanaians to worry about the conditions Ghana’s engagement with the Monetary Fund will come with.
To strengthen the nation’s economy, President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo gave the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, permission to start formal negotiations with the IMF on Friday.
The action has drawn conflicting responses and debates.
Dr. Akoto is urging restraint in the anticipation that the IMF’s conditions will benefit all Ghanaians.
“Ghanaians should calm down and wait for the terms that will come out of our engagement with the IMF and they will realize it will be favorable to the people of this country.”
In an interview with Kwadwo Jantuah of Nhyira FM’s Kukurantumi program, Dr. Akoto stated that it is not unusual for Ghana to seek counsel from the IMF.
“Ghanaians will soon praise us for going to the IMF. The IMF is not a stranger that we are going to beg, we are prominent African members of the Fund and they are there to advise the government. The president in his wisdom has decided it’s about time we spoke to them and we are going to speak to them. The terms we will bring are the most important thing.”
He claimed that Covid-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian war, which he claimed had disturbed everything in the nation, were to blame for the government’s choice to approach the IMF.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom/Joseph Asare
