The Information Minister says the Finance Minister has shown the willingness to use homegrown policies to deal with the country’s current economic challenges despite reports of him resorting to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says Ken Ofori-Atta has indicated clearly that there are homegrown measures that can help move the country out of the current economic challenges.
He explained that any other decision will only be taken after current data on the economy is finalised.
“The person responsible for fiscal policy in this country has been quite clear that he believes that there are clear domestic measures that can answer the same questions for us. I take him at his word.
“We are additionally going through a process of assessment of the data; you have to come to Parliament with the fiscal outcome for the first half of the year or maybe ending of the first quarter and tell us consequently what the fiscal programme for the rest of the year is.
“I am sure when he does get to that time, he will provide us with all the data and the justification for whatever decisions he urges on the Republic,” he said in an exclusive interview with Joy News on Monday.
He noted that despite the suggestions for the country to return to the IMF, the country must be guided to decide after the government presents its fiscal outcome for the year’s first half.
“Let them [suggestions to return to IMF] come up but let us be guided by the hard data when it gets to the middle of July, and we are having to put that data out then we take a decision,” he told Kojo Brace.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah also responded to suggestions that the E-levy, which was expected to rake in some revenue for the government, is under-performing a month after its implementation.
“The data is coming in; we are going through the assessment period. Like I said, it is a bit prejudicial now to try and explain what is suspected of having happened when we are now going through the assessment of the data so I think we should give ourselves time to see the data, do the analyses and then we can come up with the consequential decisions,” he stated.
Meanwhile, a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere-Darko, has said he is not against the government seeking economic support from the IMF.
According to him, any move or plan by the government to go to the IMF for a programme would be a matter of principle.
“Am I against an IMF programme in principle? No. I am not for an IMF programme that throws peanuts at us but imposes conditions that will end up hurting the poor, jobs and businesses more.
