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Following Ghana’s successful agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 3 billion dollar bailout, George Mireku Duker, the deputy minister for lands and natural resources, believes Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, deserves congratulations.
Recent criticism of the Finance Minister’s performance has been strong, with the New Patriotic Party, the minority in parliament, and members of his political party pushing for his resignation or removal.
More than 90 MPs petitioned Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the President of the Republic, to fire him, but the President begged him to finish the IMF deal.On December 12, 2022, the IMF staff and the G
hanaian government met and came to a staff-level agreement on economic policies and reforms to be backed by a new, three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement of around US$3 billion.
From Thursday, December 1 to Tuesday, December 13, an IMF team led by Mr. Stéphane Roudet, the mission chief for Ghana, was in Accra to discuss IMF support with the Ghanaian government.
“I am pleased to announce that the IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the Ghanaian authorities on a three-year program supported by an arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in the amount of SDR 2.242 billion or about US$3 billion.
“The economic program aims to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while laying the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth. The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF Management and Executive Board approval and receipt of the necessary financing assurances by Ghana’s partners and creditors”, Mr. Roudet issued a statement following the meeting.
In spite of speculations that the IMF had doubts about Ken Ofori-Atta, George Mireku Duker has requested the country to praise him for reaching an agreement.
Ken Ofori-Atta must be included while praising the administration, he said.
He believes that the job being done by the Mr. Ofori-Atta-led Finance Ministry is impressive and somehow disproves the accusations made against the Finance Minister.
“There were allegations that the IMF didn’t trust our finance minister before they reached the staff agreement, but it’s not simple to come to a 3 billion deal.
We wouldn’t have achieved this staff agreement if there was really that mistrust, he said on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” thursday morning show monitored by Ghanatodayonline.com.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
