The Vice President of Ghana Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has finally reacted to Ghana choosing to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Prior to the 2016 election, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in several lectures gave a clear indication that it’s only a lazy government that will seek bailout from the IMF.
He and other leading members of the New Patriotic Party government insisted that they will never send Ghana back to IMF.
However, in the early part of July 2022, the President of Ghana ordered the Finance Minister to start negotiations with the IMF in order for Ghana to be bailed out of economic distress.
Reacting to the decision taken by government for the first time, the Vice President indicated that Ghana was hit with a quadruple whammy in the last few years and that has forced the country to seek bailout.
He indicated that but for the quadruple whammy in the last few years, the country would have been best positioned to take good care of herself.
If you take out the fiscal impact of this quadruple whammy, Ghana will not be going to the IMF for support because our fiscal, debt and balance of payments outlook would be sustainable. Of the four factors, two (COVID-19 and the Russia Ukraine war) were external and the other two (the banking sector clean up and the excess capacity payments) were the result of policies of the previous government”.
