A former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Obed Asamoah, believes a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the way to go to get Ghana out of its current economic state.
The country is facing huge financial distress, a falling currency among a plethora of other issues that are taking a toll on government and the citizenry.
The Bank of Ghana, in its January 2022 Monetary Policy Report, said the stock of public debt was equivalent to 78.4% of GDP at the end of 2021, compared with 76.1% of GDP at the end of 2020.
The country’s total public debt stock stood at about ¢344.5 billion as of November 2021.
Government says it is rolling out a number of measures including the introduction of the controversial E-Levy to shore up the revenue to meet the country’s needs.
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But Dr Obed Asamoah insists these interventions will come to nought if a bailout from the IMF is not considered.
“I wish we didn’t have to go to the IMF… but where we are now, I think we have to. They will lower our size in terms of expenditure and day look, you can only manage so much,” he told JoyNews.
On the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) the statesman urged the government to abort the idea of securitising it adding that it will only incur more debt for the country.
He urged that government rather cuts down on expenditure and stays “more realistic about what is possible and what is not.”
Meanwhile, government held a cabinet meeting over the weekend at Peduase in the Eastern Region to find solutions to the hard economic difficulties, including the persistent rise in the prices of goods and services, rising fuel prices and the growing depreciation of the cedi.
In the coming days, President Akufo-Addo, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and other ministers will provide details on which sectors will experience expenditure cuts.
However, the Finance Minister has already ruled out any possibility of returning to the IMF.