�Ghana-IMF Talks Not Clear�

A lecturer at the University of Ghana (UG) Business School, Dr. Kobby Mensah, has stated that the ongoing talks between Ghana�s economic team and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, in the United States of America (USA,) are not clear. According to him, what President John Dramani Mahama meant by soliciting �technical assistance� from the IMF was shrouded in secrecy. The UG lecturer maintained that there was more to the technical assistance, and called on government to come clear on its explanation. �Ghana�s involvement with IMF is not a new thing; and we [Ghanaians] all know that anytime the country goes to IMF, it is about financial assistance,� he asserted. Mr. Mensah made these observations on Ghana, Great and Strong, a non-partisan programme broadcast every Saturday from 7:00 P.M., to 8:00 P.M., on Ghana�s premier internet-based radio, www.hedjorleonlineradio.com. He decried the posture of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) towards the current economic challenges facing the country. What the NDC government has done, he said, was hitting the panic button by taking the country to IMF. That, he noted, was not what Ghanaians were expecting from the ruling government. According to Mr. Mensah, government could have avoided going to the IMF if it had heeded to the numerous pieces of advice that were given to it by both the opposition parties and financial experts. Corrupt scandals and malfeasance in the system, the UG lecturer, added were some of the reasons why Ghana went to the IMF. �The recent alleged corrupt scandals are the reasons for our economic woes and as a nation it is important we work towards that,� he intimated. Contributing to the programme, financial analyst, Emmanuel Amoah Darkwah, noted that in enhancing the growth of the economy, government must expand its tentacles to cover the informal sector. According to him, much has not been done by government in terms of assisting the informal sector. Apart from providing assistance to the informal sector, government must also support home- grown policies, he suggested. �If government talks about home-grown policies, it is important it shows commitment towards it,� he said. He could not understand why President Dramani Mahama would not come clear on the general outlook of the economy. In the estimation of Mr. Amoako Darkwah, issues on the economy should not be hidden since its manifestations are always clear for every individual to see. �How can you lie about economic figures, definitely one day the situation will expose you to the public,� he said. To this end, he called on government to be more assertive and proactive about national issues, especially issues about the economy.