Bawumia, Ofori-Atta have failed in IMF negotiations – Minority

The Minority in Parliament says the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta have demonstrated a lack of ability to negotiate the US$ 3 billion support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The group contends that discussions towards securing the deal are not yielding positive outcomes due to the failure of the Finance Minister to exhibit transparency in the Debt Exchange Programme.

Speaking to journalists, the Minority Chief Whip, Governs Kwame Agbodza said the pair must fall on the expertise of others for a successful fund support.

“We have to know what actually Ken Ofori-Atta and Bawumia are doing. The IMF negotiations are not going on very well. They have shown clearly that they lack the ability to negotiate this properly. I encourage them to seek help. There are people in and outside the NPP who can help.”

“The two do not have the skill set in terms of the ability to deliver. I think the country should call them to order. We cannot continue to wait on Ken Ofori-Atta when donors are anxious about what is going to happen”, Mr. Agbodza added.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has admitted that failure to secure a bailout with the International Monetary Fund by mid-March may ground Ghana’s economy to a halt.

This he says is because bondholders have resisted their inclusion in the domestic debt exchange programme.

“We really feel that government has listened, there is humanity in us, we are protecting the destitute, widows and the orphans and the older people who have worked for this nation. We are in a crisis, we cannot put our heads under the sun and pretend that we are not.

“We need to be mindful that we really need to be successful in going to the fund by this March to avoid what we all experienced last year which we all don’t want to experience again.”

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has also stressed, that there was a vital need for other creditors to support the efforts that his government was undertaking to restructure both the external and domestic debts of the country, to enable the IMF deal to fall through quickly.