Investor confidence in Ghana’s economy dipped due to the downgrade by international credit rating agencies hence, it makes sense to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to rebuild that confidence, a Senior Fellow at the Africa Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), Dr John Asafu-Adjaye, has said.
Dr Asafu-Adjaye said the decision by the government to head to the IMF did not come as a surprise to him given the challenges that saddled the economy recently.
“Personally, I wasn’t surprised because given the sovereign rating downgrade, that Ghana suffered, Ghana is not able to to go into the capital market , investors confidence had gone down, capital flight. So I thought that going to the IMF makes sense in terms of restoring investor confidence,” he said during the 3businesscolloquium organized by Media General on Wednesday July 6.
The IMF staff team, led by Carlo Sdralevich, mission chief for Ghana, is in Ghana to begin initial discussions with the Ghanaian authorities about a possible IMF-supported programme.
Mr. Sdralevich in a statement said “On the basis of a request from the Ghanaian authorities, an IMF staff team will in the coming days kick-start discussions on a possible program to support Ghana’s homegrown economic policies. We are at an early stage in the process, given that detailed discussions are yet to take place.”
“The IMF stands ready to assist Ghana to restore macroeconomic stability, safeguard debt sustainability, and promote inclusive and sustainable growth, and address the impact of the war in Ukraine and the lingering pandemic.”
“We are looking forward to our engagement with the authorities in Accra,” the Fund said.
The Government of Ghana on Friday July 1 announced that it was seeking support from the IMF.
This followed a telephone conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Miss Kristalina Georgieva, conveying Ghana’s decision to engage with the Fund, a statement by the Ministry of Information said.
During the 3businesscolloquium, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is chairing the task force for the engagement with the IMF.
The Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta and his team are leading the data-sharing exercise during the engagements, he added.
The data-sharing, he explained, will determine what Ghana is qualified for and what it is not qualified for under the programme.
Asked whether the Finance Minister is leading the negotiations, Mr Oppong Nkrumah answered “The President is chairing the task force, the Finance Minister and his team are from today, leading the data-sharing exercise. When they are done the Mission Chief and the President will have a number of conversations. The President has already spoken to the Managing Director of the Fund itself.”
The Ofoase Ayirebi lawmaker added “The first part of the conversation is sharing of data. The data has its interpretation and the data will tell us what we qualify for and what we don’t qualify for.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana
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