President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo met the Head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagard, at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday and indicated that Ghana, under his watch, would not need an IMF intervention to survive.
He said the previous administration that requested for the IMF programme left an economy that was in disequilibrium, with balance of payment in disarray, and a deficit of about 9.3 per cent.
President Akufo-Addo told the IMF boss that his administration, in its first year in office, reduced the deficit to 5.9 in 2017, and was expected to record a further reduction of 4.5 per cent by the end of this year.
He said the prudent management of the economy under his administration had attracted global players such as Volkswagen and Nissan and added that the economy would be managed well to attract more of such investments.
As Ghana exited the IMF programme, President Akufo-Addo said his government would maintain fiscal discipline to consolidate the gains made and build a strong and resilient economy that would attract investors and create jobs for Ghanaians.
“We have been subjected to three successful reviews by the IMF with two more to go before you can write a certificate of good conduct for us,” he said and assured the IMF boss of the government’s commitment to keep its promise to manage the economy with discipline.
To consolidate the progress made, President Akufo-Addo said a fiscal legislation law to cap the deficit to five per cent would be passed, adding that, “it is important that the sacrifices made are supported with strong statutory underpinnings.”
In addition, he said a fiscal responsibility advisory council would be constituted to keep an eye on the government in the management of its fiscal strategies to ensure that it complied with the new requirements.
President Akufo-Addo told Ms Lagard that Ghana had no interest of going back to the IMF for support but would maintain strong relations with the fund.
Ms Lagard, on her part, commended the government for the work done so far, adding that, “you, indeed arrived in a situation that was, from a macro-economic point of view, fragile, all indicators in red, and, through massive work, efforts, sacrifices as well, those indictors are turning in the right direction.”
She said the IMF was ready to offer technical advice, especially in areas of smart mixture of domestic revenue mobilisation and debt to enable the government respond to the demands of development.
“Ghana has been setting standards for many decades and we strongly hope that the political maturity would be coupled with the fiscal responsibility that would generate the development that the population expects,” she said.
Ms Lagard said the IMF would continue to be a “ruthless truth-teller” and point out any risk or loophole that would undermine the government’s efforts at meeting its objectives.
BY YAW KYEI
