Let’s negotiate well for better conditions – Stephen Amoah on IMF

Member of Parliament for Nhyiase, Dr Stephen Amoah has said the government must negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in such a way that the conditions that will be given are not extreme.

The Member of Finance committee justified the decision to go the IMF after saying the challenges that confront the Ghanaian economy are global.

Speaking on the Key Points on TV3, Saturday, July 2, the Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament said “I don’t think going to IMF is a bad thing. At a point probably, we decided not to go, yes. You can have a problem with your tummy but you will say you won’t go to the hospital, that I can use A,B,C,D but as the situation gets severe you might probably, be compelled by the prevailing challenges to take an option.

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“When it comes to decision-making, it is about having goal or objective and the alternative getting to the objective, you have room to operate and calibrate your decision-making or your choices in terms of alternative, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

“Let us be honest with God and ourselves, if it is not politics and it is honesty, this situation is global and when you say this, people think there is no God, they can lie and do whatever they want to do. For NDC, I understand them because NPP would done the same but the people who have what it takes and they are not NDC, NPP, interface players or activists and they are supposed to speak the truth yet they get Ghanaians confused… misleading thousands of people in their confused state, it is not right.”

Former Finance Minister Mr Seth Terkper has also asked stakeholders to now pay particular attention to the nature of proposal that the government will be submitting to the IMF.

This followed the instruction given to the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to commence engagements with the Fund.

Mr Terkper indicated that the engagement is not going to happen overnight. It will take quite sometime before conclusions are made, he said.

“The Funds were clearly there and that is when we probably we could have gone earlier. I think that it is important to know that we are where we are and therefore we can focus on the proposal that government will be giving to the Fund. It is not a one week thing, government will definitely, may have to make proposals,” he told Paa Kwesi Asare on the News 360 on TV3 Friday July 1.

In the view of Mr Terkper, the decision to go to the Fund could have been made much earlier.

“I do agree with the sentiments that we could probably, have gone to the Fund much earlier and the situation would not have worsened,” he said.

Analysts have been expressing their views on the decision by the government.

For instance, the Dean of the Business School at the University of Cape Coast, Professor John Gatsi said that the decision to return to the Fund is an indication that the programmes and measures outlined by the government to deal with the economic challenges are not strong enough.

It also means that the management of the economy has been difficult for the government, he added.

Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Komla Adom on the mid day news Friday July 1, Prof Gatsi said “The decision is clear to all of us that Ghana is heading towards the IMF, officially from the President and then authenticated by Minister responsible for Information.

“It has implications, the implication is that the management of the economy has become very difficult, our programmes are not potent enough to deal with the challenges therefore we need credibility for our programmes, we need confidence to manage our economy and that confidence is not coming from the programmes and strategies of the government and that, the government believes that confidence to manage the economy can be procured from the IMF.”

President Akufo-Addo gave the instruction to Mr Ofori-Atta to commence the engagements with the IMF on Friday July 1 following a telephone conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Miss Kristalina Georgieva, conveying Ghana’s decision to engage with the Fund.

The Ministry of Information announced this in a statement on Friday July 1.

A Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr John Kumah said an IMF programme would help the country to come out from the economic challenges faster.

He said the government hopes that the programme will benefit the country.

“Our objective as government is to restore confidence in the economy and rebound it from the difficulty, from the challenges, not only in Ghana but almost all economies around the world.

“We believe that where we stand now, an IMF intervention will help us come out quicker than we could. We hope that it will benefit the country,” he told TV3’s Komla Adom on the mid day news on Friday July 1.

Source:3news.com