Ken Ofori-Atta refuses to resign over IMF U-turn
Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said he will not resign over his governments decision to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout .
The Finance Minister recently came under a heavy back lash for stating Ghana will never opt for an IMF bailout earlier this year.
However speaking to journalists at the ongoing New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates’ conference in Accra on Saturday, July, 16 Ofori-Atta said “I will not resign.”
“It is almost like telling a father to resign from his children because he has changed his mind. There are times that decisions have to be made for the survival of a country and therefore if circumstances such as COVID or the Ukraine war occur which are not typical, it does change the environment, and sensible people will change their minds,” he said.
Meanwhile Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said he cannot be blamed for Ghana’s decision to opt for an International Monetary Fund programme to help stabilise the economy.
Bawumia has recently come under heavy criticism as head of the economic management team following governments decision to seek an IMF bailout.
Speaking as the guest of honour at the official launch of Accra Business School’s IT Programmes on Thursday, July 14, Bawumia said government’s decision to seek for IMF support is as a result of the quadruple whammy .
“The energy sector excess capacity payments, the banking sector clean-up, COVID-19 and the Russia- Ukraine war are events that have pushed the country to seek the support of the Bretton Wood institution.”
“If you take out the fiscal impact of these quadruple whammy, Ghana will not be going to the IMF for support,” Bawumia said.
Bawumia says the recent global economic challenges must force Ghana to be more self-reliant.
Way forward
On the way forward for the country, Vice-President Bawumia said, “unfortunately, judging from where we are today, there is no end in sight for the Russia-Ukraine war. While we hope for a quick end to the war, we must understand that things could get worse before they get better.”
He said the major lesson of the last two years is that “we have to be more self-reliant as a country. It is important that we take decisions that will inure to the benefit of the country regardless of whether we are going to the IMF for a program or not.”
According to Dr Bawumia, the immediate task for the country is to restore fiscal and debt sustainability – through revenue and expenditure measures and structural reforms, adding that “non-concessional borrowing should be curtailed to enhance debt sustainability.
