IMF bailout: negotiate for better deal -Analyst to Akufo-Addo

Fnancial Analyst and a Senior Lecturer at the Kumasi Technical University in the Ashanti Region has appealed to the government to negotiate for a better deal if it has to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an economic bailout.

According to Alhaji Ishaq Kyei-Brobbey, it will be worrying if the country has to go to the IMF for the same paltry sum that will not turn around the fortunes of the economy.

“It will not be worth it if we have to go to the IMF for the same paltry sum the National Democratic Congress led by former President John Dramani Mahama went for,” he said.

“Some years ago, we went there for a paltry sum, if we have to go again for such a paltry sum it is best as a country we look for domestic options,” he argued.

“If the government intends to negotiate for a sum of about $5billion and more, I am for IMF,” he noted adding that “as an analyst, I don’t see the need in going to the IMF for a paltry sum that comes with certain conditionalities.”

Mr Kyei-Brobbey said this in reacting to ongoing arguments on whether or not the government must seek bailout from the IMF to salvage the country’s economic difficulties.

Speaking in an interview monitored by African Editors on Friday, July 1, 2022, he called on the president to think through the decision to go back to the IMF because the country’s debt burden is now more than the wage bill of the public sector.

He was quick to add that managers of the economy know how well the economy is being managed so they are better placed to decide on how the economy can be salvaged.

“IMF bailouts are meant for member countries and once Ghana is a member is not a new thing if we seek their help,” he said.

He stressed that because Ghana’s economic credit ratings have been downgraded, there is the need for IMF’s support because there is no confidence in the system.