Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, has reiterated what he sees as the root of the current economic problem.
The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine were highlighted by the minister as the country’s problems.
On Thursday, Mr. Ofori-Atta was in the House of Representatives to provide an update on the steps taken to satisfy the debt requirements in order to obtain a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The administration has previously used these factors to justify the current situation of the economy.
The Minority, however, has always disputed these assertions, pointing to poor economic management and careless borrowing as the underlying causes.
The Minister felt the need to reiterate the argument in order to drive home the goal of the debt restructuring programme while addressing Parliament about the development of the Domestic Debt Exchange Program.
“Let me clarify that, the current state of our debt is because of the lingering effects of the CoVID-19 pandemic, the Russia–Ukraine war.
This has been exacerbated by the high macroeconomic instability experienced in 2022, occasioned by downgrades by rating agencies as well as the consequential pressures on Government finances due to the actions of non-resident investors and the delayed passage of our revenue bills,” he said.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a North Tongu MP, is perplexed as to why the administration continues to blame these outside forces for the appalling status of the economy.
As of right now, the DDEP deadline has passed, and the Ministry has confirmed that around 85% of applicants participated.
Leonard Chumo was also nominated earlier this week by the IMF as a resident adviser to the Bank of Ghana for financial sector supervision (BoG).
He is tasked with offering technical support and aiding in the expansion of the banking supervision function’s capacity.
“At the request of Bank of Ghana and fully funded by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assigned a Resident Adviser in financial sector supervision to the Bank of Ghana”, a statement from the BoG read.
