The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva’s assessment of the current status of the Ghanaian economy has come under fire from former president John Dramani Mahama.
While it was reassuring to hear Madam Georgieva “reaffirm the commitment of the IMF to support the people of Ghana in these perilous times,” Mr. Mahama claimed that it was “incontrovertible” that the “poor policies” of the government had led to the global economic downturn.
According to him, policies like “the botched, insensitive, and questionable cost of closing down locally owned banks, unchecked levels of corruption and a lack of accountability, including the mismanagement of COVID-19 funds, unconventional borrowing practices riddled with conflicts of interest that result in an unsustainable debt envelope, costly, experimental and untested programmes”, could not be ignored in understanding the current dire state of the Ghanaian economy.
He claimed that if the IMF and other international diplomats ignored these considerations, they may “make an incorrect diagnosis and propose improper cures.”
While maintaining the customary level of restraint in public discourse that is valued in international diplomacy, Mr. Mahama wrote on Facebook that “comments by high ranking officials must be based on facts and take into account local realities and opinions.”
He also counselled foreign ambassadors to discuss the Ghanaian economy in terms of local realities.
“The economy of Ghana must be managed first and foremost for the Ghanaian who lives and feels it every day, not only for an international audience.”
The current economic troubles in Ghana, which Ms Georgieva called a “superb country,” were not caused domestically but rather as a result of external shocks.
She claimed that, in contrast to certain claims, the Akufo-Addo administration’s disastrous policies were not the cause of Ghana’s current predicament. Rather, the causes were external.
Ghana is requesting US$3 billion from the IMF to help the country get through the difficult economic situation it is in as a result of the fatal coronavirus illness (COVID-19) pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
A delegation from the IMF has already visited Ghana and had preliminary discussions about a potential IMF-supported program with the Ministry of Finance. The delegation was led by Carlo Sdralevich, the mission chief for Ghana.