News:
Minority Leader
December 14, 2022
The Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu has said for his side (Minority), the staff level agreement Ghana has entered with the International Monitoring Fund (IMF) means nothing to them.
According to him Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta should rather come with a board and management approval and per the agreement the second paragraph emphasised reforms and there are no enough reforms in the 2023 budget.
Addressing members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC), he noted that the management and board approval of Ghana’s application before the IMF board will probably span into next year April 2023 or even beyond.
Hence the celebration and dancing of the Finance Minister is premature as the nation’s debt is still unsustainable; the debt exchange initiative of the Minister may probably fail as many are refusing to sign onto it, he added.
Mr. Haruna asserts that the content of the external bonds are still unknown; government is running out of time to announce the hair-cut associated with the external bond, and for the minister of finance to be dancing and say that praise me does not resolve anything.
“Because, I have brought an improvement in the exchange rate of the cedi which was falling with some epileptic, praise me. He should ask himself at what level did he inherit the cedi against the dollar? It was four point two (4.2) cedis to a dollar; and at twelve point five (12.5) there is nothing to celebrate and nothing to honor him for. What he has done in the last three months; “he collapsed businesses of persons and the unacceptable hardship in the country is not likely to end soon”.
Mr. Iddrisu noted that for them to think they are reforming and restructuring the economy, it is also conditional on other matters relating to making debt sustainability a pre-condition.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com