I won’t believe it if Ghana says we won’t go to IMF again – Godfred Bokpin

A professor at the University of Ghana Business School, Godfred Bokpin has said that from all indications Ghana will go back to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the 17th one has ended.

He says the fundamental factors that result in the country going to the Bretton Woods institution for a bailout have not been tackled.

He cited poor management of the public finances and corruption as some of the reasons for the economic challenges that resulted in Ghana to the Fund.

Citing Malasia’s resolve not to go the Fund, he said “Malaysia did so with honesty and was determined to show what is required to manage the economy.”

“If a pregnant woman tells me she won’t give birth again I will believe it but if Ghana tells me we won’t go to the IMF again won’t believe it,” he added.

“Our discussions should be how do we influence expenditure under the Public Financial Management Act? How do we solve the procurement issue? About 80 percent of the large scale contracts are done through sole sourcing,” he said while speaking at a national dialogue forum on the theme “Building an economy beyond IMF bailouts, organized by Media General Incolboration with Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) on Tuesday, April 9.

For his part, the Executive Director of ACEP Ben Boakye asked civil society organizations (CSOs) and Ghanaians, in general, to be vigilant and ensure that the ongoing programme with the IMF works for the people.

To him, playing an effective watchdog role by CSOs will ensure that the programme achieves its objective.

“We must be vigilant and play the watchdog well,” he stressed.

“e are reaching out to everybody for us to have a conversation from the defects that keep us going back to the IMF and to ensure we can build on the economy that thrives on our efrost,” he said.

Regarding the IMF deal, the Minister of Finance Dr Mohammed Amin Adam earlier assured that the Ministry, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the IMF team had a fruitful opening meeting on Tuesday, April 2 to commence the 2nd Review mission.

The mission staff from the IMF arrived in the country to commence the assessment of Ghana’s performance against the program’s objectives. This evaluation will span the next two weeks.

“The Ministry of Finance, the BoG and the IMF team had a fruitful opening meeting to commence the 2nd Review Mission,” the Ministry wrote on its X platform on Tuesday.

Dr Mohammed Amin Adam earlier said said that a Preliminary assessment undertaken by the Ministry and the central bank showed that they were on course to meet most of the targets under the Programme with the Fund.

In his first monthly press briefing on the economy in 2024, held last week, Dr Amin Adam said “The Ministry of Finance is working with the BoG in preparation for the IMF 2nd Review Mission. Preliminary assessment undertaken by MoF and BoG shows that we are on course to meet most of the targets under the Programme.”

“During the 2nd Review, the IMF mission will engage the authorities in technical and policy discussions to enable them to assess Ghana’s performance on programme objectives, the 6 Quantitative Performance Criteria (QPCs), the 3 Indicative Targets (ITs), 1 Monetary Policy Consultation Clause (MPCC), and the Structural Benchmarks (SBs) with respect to end Dec 2023 targets. They will also review performance towards upcoming QPCs, ITs, and SBs,” he added.

The finance minister emphasised that the approval of the 2nd Review by the IMF Executive Board, potentially in June 2024, will trigger the release of the 3rd tranche of US$360 million, increasing the total disbursements under the programme to US$1.56 billion.