The government has finally given reasons for behind the government’s decision to the extend the three-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) Credit Facility programme by a year.
According to government it was compelled to approve the extension because the IMF threatened to immediately abrogate the whole deal if government declined the proposal.
A Deputy Minister of Finance, Kwaku Kwarteng who made the revelation on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday said the IMF told them that the programme “had under-performed” and Ghana would miss its objectives for going for the facility hence the only way to be back on track is an extension.
. . The IMF has been around for two years and they the IMF are now telling us that the programme has so under performed and so we should now extend it. We didn’t think we needed that. So when we expressed that view to them… what we didn’t anticipate was the response we subsequently got from the IMF was that…if we do not extend then there is no way we were going to achieve the objectives of the programme so they will end the programme today,” he said.
The NPP government had in the past chastised the Mahama government for putting Ghana under the IMF programme and promised not to extend it after the programme elapsed in 2018 but per the new agreement the programme will now end in April 2019.
IMF approved an additional 94 million dollar disbursement for the extension which implied that freeze on government sector employment will linger on.
A lot of Ghanaians subsequently lashed out at the Akufo-Addo government for the one year extension window.
But defending the issue on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Kwarteng said government approved the extension because “we didn’t want to hurt Ghana’s credible image”
“…I for instance thought that from what we had told them that we did not want to come out of the programme as though there is a new government and government had abandoned the programme, it will send a wrong signal to the market and it will hurt our image as a credible country so we said we were not going to do that.”
He said the IMF further threatened not to continue with the fourth quarter review of the IMF programme with Ghana if the government rejects the request for an extension.
“That was in plain language that the IMF was telling us that if you do not extend beyond first quarter of 2018, then we think that we are not even going for the review,” the Deputy Finance Minister added.
Source: Citifmonline.com
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
The IMF is a rogue institution just as corrupt politicians, and as Africa begins to kick out corrupt, ***barred word*** and incompetent leaders out of power, it should go with the kicking out of the rogue institution. The need for alternate institutions with the same mandate or better than the IMF, can not be underestated in ensuring a balanced representation of the facts of many an economy, instead of this rogue institution and what it represents.
You shouldn't talk about the IMF program if you are not prepared to give us figures. And brothers and sisters, the figures are so shameful for both the IMF and the Ghanaian government that when the public gets to know the public outrage will be overwhelming. Put on your thinking cup NPP!!!!
so kwarteng and ofori atta,you extended this deal because of only 98 million dollars? shame onto you lazy finance ministers. you promised heaven and earth to move out of this deal that help this country some times past,you promised never to go in for any loan or euro bond facility but within two weeks of been in office,ken lazy man ofori atta went for 2.25 million euro bond. is that what you told us?
Aah but where are the men i.e the economic wizards.
A hostile media, even a not-so-good analytical one, will be unhelpful to Ghana's Development moving forwards. I listened to Bernard Avle's interview with Kweku Kwarteng. The Minister as an honest person gave information many a politician will be hesitant to give. Now, the media reports him saying IMF threatened Ghana (!). For the information of readers, while that can be deduced from the interview, the Minister did not use those words. And here's why anyone using those words will be wrong: If someone says, "it is not white", it does not mean he's indicating "it is black". Because between white and black are many shades of grey. Now dealing with IMF can be complex, with all shades of 'gives-and-takes'. In brief this is the summary of the interview which I listened with ***barred word*** attention (along with my own thinking): 1. Ghana had failed to meet key milestones as at the last IMF review. 2. IMF tells the new Gov't that based on the review, the major and final program targets will not be met (as a project manager, I understand this very. Because you can foresee if a program will be successful based on the trajectory of the milestones) 3. IMF then tells the new Gov't that only an extension will ensure the final key targets will be met. Else they'll pull out (since it makes no sense to continue a program that will fail anyway) 4. Now, a responsible Gov't, knowing what a terminated(read as failed) IMF program does to its economy (due to the negative publicity to the international investment community), decides to send in an extension request. 5. The Gov't does this because the country has gained such a reputation in recent years to the extent that the investment community, "trusts the IMF more than Ghana" (Kweku Kwarteng's words) 6. So if the media reports such an occurrence as a threat, then they fail to understand the complexities of running an economy, and of life in general. 7. To the "general public", all kinds of conclusions and insinuations of a "government who promised to have the men" is most regrettable. 8. My own conclusion: Our country needs a critical mass of analytical minds to carry the population along in our development. And please, no harm is intended in this, as some readers can unfortunately twist this sentence too - which is still part of the major problem.
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ( Rom 6:16) You see how you people (evil NDC) have put Ghana into slavery by going for this evil facility... Only God is our redeemer
What? And you agreed? Go and negotiate for us ah, you allowed those guys to bully you into submission. You see why Ghana will always be weak. They will not try this in Naija. If we believe we have a great solution, lets kick these guys out and go on our own.