The deputy Minister for Information, Hon. Fatima Abubakar, has stated that going to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) for programme support and bailout will be the last resort of the ruling Government.
In an exclusive interview with Kwaku Dawuro on Movement In The Morning Show, the deputy Minister indicated that resorting to the IMF can never cushion the economy but could only sustain Ghanaians while the economy stays afloat.
“This wouldn’t be the first time Ghana may go to the IMF, we have been there before but look at the implications we had as a country following the conditionality we were given-even the security agencies were not recruiting. My sibling completed university in 2012 but had a job in 2017. The IMF can only sustain you a little while you stay on the surface and search for other alternatives to revive your economy. it’s never the way to go”, she said.
In furtherance, she said that “the NPP government is a government of solutions, hence we will ensure whatever we say is materialized. If it’s possible to solve our problems without going to the IMF,I believe the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will take this option rather than going to the IMF”.
She stressed that the government will exhaust all available options to cushion the economy rather than go to the IMF. “There are a lot of policies in the offing. The truth is our economy is picking up steam, it’s bouncing back although not like it was before the era of Covid but it’s better than 2020 and 2021.Confidence will be restored and all our policies will be implemented”.
This comes after social media had been flooded with rumors of Government considering resorting to the IMF, following series of tweets by a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Asare Otchere- Darko, which gave the impression that the government might consider going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revitalize the economy in order to boost investors’ confidence as a result of the controversial Electronic Transfer levy (e-levy) not delivering as expected.
Mr. Okyere-Darko disclosed that the e-levy is not delivering the amount of money the government had expected.
According to him, e-levy after months of stalemate is delivering only 10 percent of the amount of money the government expected it to deliver.
