Bawumia’s claims on Ghana's IMF move are outright lies, comical – Ofosu Kwakye

Former Deputy Information Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has taken a swipe at Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia following his latest argument on the reason why Ghana is seeking support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said claims by the Vice President described as a ‘quadruple whammy’ are just outright lies and comical.

“The Vice President’s claims are a combination of outright lies and a comical performance. Indeed in any self-respecting jurisdiction, he will be long gone from office after such a catastrophic display of appalling incompetence. After he has supervised the collapse of the Ghanaian economy he should be long gone as head of the Economic Management Team.

“He should not come and pour insult on the suffering of Ghanaians with such comical display. There is no serious, reasonable, knowledgeable finance and economic analyst who will accept these comical claims,” Felix Ofosu Kwakye told Citi News in an interview.

On Thursday, July 14, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia delivered a speech at an event held at the Accra Business School where he explained the decision by the ruling government to go to the IMF for a bailout.

While apportioning some blame on the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama-led government, Dr. Bawumia said the Covid-19, financial sector cleanup, energy sector debt financing, and the Russia-Ukraine war are to blame for the economic challenges facing the country.

“With the challenges on accessing the capital market, balance of payment support was needed to bridge this financing gap, stabilize the economy and create the space to implement structural reforms and restore debt sustainability and this is really the reason why Ghana had to go to the IMF.

“I should again note that Ghana has been hit with a quadruple whammy. The energy sector excess capacity payments. Banking sector cleanup, Covid-19, and the Russia-Ukraine war. If you take out this quadruple whammy Ghana will not be going to the IMF,” H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia emphasized.

He further charged Ghanaians to brace themselves for tougher times as his government works to turn things around.