IMF Bailout: It Was "Loose Talk" On Prez Mahama's Part...He Spoke Without Facts

Upon arrival from Dubai and the United States of America, President John Dramani Mahama, emphatically stated that current talks with the International Monetary Fund for a solution to the country�s dire economic challenges, may be Ghana�s last time of turning to them for assistance. According to him, government will tighten its fiscal policies to avoid creating and repeating conditions that will compel Ghana to turn to the IMF. But Head of Political Science Department at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST) Professor Richard Amoako Baah, has pooh-poohed the president�s financial plan, claiming that it should be considered a mere talk that lacks facts. The political science lecturer described President Mahama as a �loose talker� who espouses his views without facts. Making reference to financial challenges that hit Argentina on two separate occasions forcing the South American nation to seek an IMF bail out, Dr Amoako Baah said the future is full of uncertainties for any national head to make such sweeping statements. �In 1998, Argentina went into trouble and in 2002, they came out; today as I talk to you, Argentina is in trouble again and it is a bigger one. They are in a financial distress and it is affecting world stock prices�there are so many unknowns in Ghana, this is a country which stands to be affected in any moment should cocoa and oil prices go up," he said. In an interview with Peace FM, Prof. Amoako Baah wondered if President Mahama �looked into crystal balls before making certain comments." He pointed out that perhaps the sitting president is unaware the reckless spending spree some of his appointees embarked on coupled with certain decisions he took, which could force the nation to seek assistance from the Briton Woods institution. He further added that with the general elections some two years away and President Mahama not guaranteed automatic victory, it was too general on his part to say that this is the last time the country might seek help from the IMF. �He spoke without facts and presidents aren�t supposed to speak that way. He addressed the crowd as he was having a casual interaction with someone. He forgets that as a president, people would scrutinize him after making any public remark... he spoke loosely and on that occasion, he didn�t speak well at all,� he added. Asked by the interviewer what could have facilitated the loose talk by President Mahama, Prof. Richard Amoako Baah responded by stating that �it could be that when he returned and saw the charged crowd who were there to welcome him, he addressed them without consulting his team of advisers�.