[ 2015-03-25 ]

Ghana going to the IMF was a mistake - Kofi Amoah
An accomplished Ghanaian entrepreneur, Dr Kofi
Amoah, is not in favour of the Ghana
government’s decision to resort to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout to
salvage the ailing economy.

The West African nation is expecting about $940
million from the IMF over a three-year period to
inject life into a careworn economy.

According to the accredited African partner for
the Western Union Money transfer business,
“going to the IMF was a mistake” and the
programme may not inure to the benefit of the
oil-producing country.

The 2016 vice presidential candidate of the main
opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr Mahamudu
Bawumia just lashed out at the Mahama-led
administration on Tuesday for seeking refuge in
the Bretton Wood institution when it could have
avoided it.

He said the anchor being sought from the IMF for
Ghana’s economy will not hold if the data upon
which the programme is built is not credible.

According to the former Deputy Governor of the
Bank of Ghana, there are inconsistencies with the
two main sets of data based on which the programme
is fashioned – inflation and the GDP.

“Any economic and financial programme is only as
good as the data used to formulate the programme.
Credible data provides the basis of the analytical
framework to respond adequately to economic
challenges. If you have make-believe data you will
end up with counterproductive or inadequate
responses to economic policies. If your data is
not credible, the anchor cannot hold. With
make-believe data as the basis, the best you can
achieve is make-believe results which will soon be
exposed as we are witnessing currently,” Dr.
Bawumia made the disclosure while speaking on the
topic: “The IMF Bailout, Will the Anchor Hold”
at a public lecture organised by the Central
University College as part of their
‘Distinguished Speaker Series’.

Speaking in an interview with Citi FM, a day after
Bawumia’s presentation, Dr Amoah said:
“Whether you believe in Seth Terkper [Finance
Minister] or Bawumia is not the issue. The fact of
the matter is that we’re overly indebted.”

According to him, the country’s major currency,
the Cedi, is “devaluing because we’re not
producing and exporting enough goods.”

To him, Ghana is not “running an economy but a
Ponzi scheme… we can’t say we have an economy
when 60% of our budget is supported by development
partners.”

He added: “We import about $1.5 billion worth of
food every year. This is not acceptable.”

Source - Starrfmonline

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