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13.10.2014 Editorial

Cooked Figures Again?

By Daily Guide
Cooked Figures Again?
13.10.2014 LISTEN

Dr. Philomina Nyarko
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is said to have queried Ghana's GDP figures as presented by the country's authorities. If it is really about closing a credibility gap as the President said when he sought to dismiss the fears by his compatriots that the country was financially bankrupt and needs an IMF bailout, it must have gone viral.

We have been told by Mr. Gupta and his team at the IMF, albeit subtly, that the figures presented by Ghana were cooked – the second time we are, as a nation, suffering such an embarrassment.

The integrity of the nation has been bruised and an immediate response from government, especially the Bank of Ghana, would be such a wonderful relief for a troubled populace not knowing whether to believe the IMF or their own government.

Perhaps the Bretton Wood institution is for the first time wrong and the Ghanaian government is right. We are so befuddled that we think the right thing to do is to pause and await an immediate response from the relevant authorities.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Finance Minister and even the President, should tell Ghanaians and the world something. If such an embarrassment had happened elsewhere, it could have brought the government down effortlessly.

Maybe Mr. Gupta got it all wrong with the details from Ghana, that all he could do was belie our figures. On the other hand, the Ghanaian authorities could have been so overwhelmed by the debt-to-GDP ratio that they did not think about the implication of cooking up figures and went ahead to do just that - manufacture figures!

When a doctor is fed with erroneous symptoms, his diagnosis would be off the mark, and therefore of no use to the patient who would not respond to treatment regardless of the efficacy of the medication so administered.

The whole scenario reminds us about Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's assertion that economic figures, when cooked, cannot stand the test of time. Definitely, before long, the truth will be out. The gentleman is once more being vindicated.

At this point, may we ask whether it is true that the debt-to-GDP ratio as presented by Ghana is far from the truth, in the estimation of the IMF? Is it true that erroneous figures were fed the IMF? Who is responsible – the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the Finance Minister or the President? We are entitled to this information because the credibility of our nation is at stake.

If the Governor of the Bank of Ghana is not already composing his resignation letter following this embarrassment, then he must have a convincing explanation to present to his compatriots. Otherwise the IMF is stupid in its stance, we dare state.

Where are they who called for respect for our state institutions?  Do such institutions deserve such deference when their actions are steeped in dishonesty and indecorum?

At the time of composing this commentary, some diplomacy has gone into mitigating the IMF discovery. Call it a face-saving manouvre from government and you would not be wrong.

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