Ghana will exit IMF stronger than the previous one — Palgrave Boakye-Danquah

Government Spokesperson on Governance and Security Palgrave Boakye-Danquah is sure that Ghana would successfully complete the IMF program and emerge even stronger than it did from the previous 16 programmes.

He claimed that the government was drastically altering systems through digitalization, which would change the way the economy was structured.

As a result, “With enhanced fiscal discipline and structural reforms to restore debt sustainability and growth, we should emerge stronger than we have with the previous 17 IMF programmes,” he Accra-based Metro TV.

WHY IMF?
According to Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, Ghana “has been hit by a quadruple whammy in the last few years,” hence the country must request assistance from the IMF.

The Energy Sector Excess Capacity Payments, which cost GH$17 billion and are related to the legacy of a take-or-pay contract, the Banking Sector Clean-Up, which cost GH$25 billion, COVID-19, which cost GH$12 billion in 2020 and 2021, and the Russia-Ukraine war were among those he cited.

Palgrave Boakye-Danquah stated that if the fiscal impact of this “quadruple whammy” was removed “Ghana will not be going to the IMF for support, because our fiscal, debt, and balance of payments outlook would be sustainable.”

He clarified that out of the four variables, two (COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war) were caused by external factors, whilst the other two (the cleaning up of the banking system and the excess capacity payments) were brought about by the previous administration’s policies.