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The government will soon engage organised labour and civil society over the upcoming programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has given the assurance. The engagement, he said, was to ensure that the government receive sustainable support for a successful programme with the Breton Woods institution. Opening a day's retreat for ministers, deputy ministers, leadership of the majority in parliament and presidential staffers in Accra yesterday, President Mahama said the government would also hold discussions with its international development partners on the programme. The assurance by the President is considered timely, as organised labour and some civil society groups have raised concerns that the IMF programme could lead to job cuts in the public sector. During a recent visit to the United States of America (USA), President Mahama stated that the country had learned so much from its past mistakes in IMF collaboration and would not repeat them under the current negotiations. Objectives of retreat The retreat was aimed, among other things, at informing the participants about the issues that had been identified so far under the IMF negotiations and the realities with the present economic conditions. It also discussed the implications of a possible fund programme for the 2015 budget and the mid-term development plan. President Mahama said the government was serious about addressing the economic challenges confronting the nation and there was no turning back. He expressed delight that some of the key figures in government who were in the thick of events during the 1980s Ghana-IMF collaborative programmes were still active in government. "We successfully initiated major economic reforms during that period and I will count on their experience in the current negotiations," he said. The negotiation team, led by a former Finance Minister in the Rawlings administration, Dr Kwesi Botchwey, would be leaving for Washington soon to continue with the negotiations with the Fund. "I give the team my utmost support to lead the negotiations successfully," President Mahama added. The team would include a technical group led by the Finance Minister, Mr Seth Terkper. Caution The President cautioned the team that the journey being embarked on was of great interest to Ghanaians and nothing must be done to stray from that path. Even before the IMF programme would begin, he said, the government was focused on fixing the economy through the implementation of home-grown economic measures, which he named to include expenditure reduction, reduction in the wage bill, improved revenue mobilisation measures, addressing the debt-stock and introduction of strong social protection programmes. The President said the partnership with the IMF would further build on the measures taken at home. In his introductory remarks, the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, said the means to address the economic challenges would be pursued successfully.