Buaben Asamoa shoots down calls for gov’t to apologise for taking Ghana to IMF
The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Buaben Asamoa has rubbished calls for the government to apologise for taking the country to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support.
The government on Friday, July 1, 2022, announced that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta to start an engagement with the IMF.
This was after several government officials had spoken against a move to the IMF, with some arguing that seeking support from the fund is only for failed governments.
From the conversations that have followed after the confirmation of the move to the IMF, there have been calls for the government to come clean on the true state of the Ghanaian economy and also apologise to the citizenry.
Reacting to such calls, Buaben Asamoah says they are unfounded. According to him, there is no reason why the ruling NPP government should offer an apology.
“..it can’t be more truthful, it can’t be more candour than the announcement of the decision to go the IMF. Post that announcement, there is very little you can hide because the nature of the engagement with the IMF is very open, the programme that will be designed will be public knowledge, and the assessment on which the programme will be based will be public knowledge.
“If it comes to engagement with our brothers from the NDC then you have an interesting situation … I think they will have their day but it is not about an apology,” the NPP Communications Director told TV3 in an interview during the New Day Programme.
Mr. Asamoa further explained, “There is nothing to apologise about because much as, many of us believed, several Ghanaians still believe, some people in the NPP also believe, that it is possible we would develop a home-grown programme rather than go under a programme with the IMF because we have an Article 4 relationship with them.”
According to Mr. Yaw Buaben Asamoa, the President has marched the country to the IMF for support in the interest of the public.