The Ranking Member on the Finance Committee in the Parliament of Ghana, Cassiel Ato Forson, has cautioned the people in the country to expect worse economic conditions under the new International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme which the President Akufo Addo led Government is committing the country to.
“The people of Ghana should expect a very strong IMF programme. Unfortunately, the Government is not articulating that fact. They are trying to hide from what is happening by trying to blame the Ukraine- Russia war. I do not accept it and we cannot accept that as the reason why Ghana is in this mess.
“We are in this mess because it is Government’s deliberate policy. The Government has mess us up big time and should take full responsibility for it. This is indeed, self-inflicted and the people that took us I to this mess must immediately take responsibility,” Hon. Ato Forson observed at a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday, July 6, 2022.
Government authorities on July 1, 2022, announced a decision by the President and supported by his cabinet to pursue an IMF bailout programme even though many of the officials are on record to have shown no confidence in the programme in the past.
However, according to the Ranking Member, this IMF programme will be tough on Ghanaians because it will be the first time the country’s economy would have to undergo a bailout combined with debt restructuring.
“This IMF programme will differ from all the IMF programmes we’ve seen in the past. In fact, this will be the first time we will do an IMF programme with debt restructuring. This means a lot. That will mean that Ghana is going to go through another phase of HIPC,” he emphasized.
He also called on the President and his Government to accept responsibility for the economic challenges rather than blaming it on COVID and Russian -Ukranian war. Watch video here
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
