IMF Bailout: We Won�t Cut Jobs; Gov�t Reiterates

Deputy Finance and Economic Planning minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, has said the numerous recommendations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not lead to job cuts in the public sector. According to him, there are no plans of laying off public sector workers as it nears an agreement IMF on a possible bailout. He made these statements and more when he spoke on Accra-based Starr FM yesterday. His assurance follows fears expressed by organised labour that government may be compelled to lay off workers as a condition for an IMF bailout. The Bretton Wood Institutions, in a communiqu� issued last week Friday after talks with government officials, backed plans by government to reduce the country�s high public sector wage bill. �We are not going to lay off workers; that is out of it. That is not what we are talking about. We have always engaged labour in this matter. �We work with labour and we will always continue to work with labour to ensure that we do what is right for labour,� he said.