IMF funds likely to be misused by Ghana – Nduom
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The founder of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has expressed doubts that government can strictly adhere to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program.
He argued that the country’s track record regarding the strict adherence to IMF programmes is not encouraging.
He recalled that in the past, Ghana “went there, we made promises, they gave us money and once we got the money, we were happy and we didn’t do what was required and after a while, the situation went bad again.”
International rating agency, Fitch has also expressed similar concerns saying given Ghana’s track record, it does not trust the country can follow the IMF final programme.
Speaking to Citi News after the swearing in of new PPP executives for the Central Region, Dr. Nduom said if the government does not exercise strict discipline, Ghana will crawl back to the IMF for another bailout in the coming years.
The 2012 PPP presidential candidate said despite all the promises made by the government to the IMF, “once the funds are made available, mismanagement would set and we will be driven back to the IMF.”
The IMF together with government officials are drawing up a three-year programme to revive Ghana’s economy using government’s home grown policies.
President John Mahama, on Sunday was hopeful this would be the last time Ghana will seek a bailout from the IMF.
During his visit to the United States where he attended the 69th United Nations General Assembly, President Mahama promised that this bailout will be guided by past experiences to prevent the repetition of past avoidable mistakes.
The IMF has already announced some targeted areas which will be tackled throughout the programme including the energy and public sectors.
Besides, the strutural reforms the IMF has proposed to financially support Ghana to help boost economic growth.
Experts and some industry players are certain the bailout programme is the way to go, while some politicians have kicked against the move stating that, citizens will be burdened with more economic hardships.
-By: Efua Idan Osam
ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson
[email protected] An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.
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