Vice Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has delivered a lecture on the implications of the IMF bailout on the country.
The lecture was delivered at the Central University College under the theme, “IMF bailout: Will the anchor hold?”
Ghana recently requested assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help her out of the economic crisis it currently faces. The IMF has agreed to give the country $940 million.
“When a country makes a request for IMF financial assistance, the IMF designs a program in collaboration with the country’s authorities to deal with the ailment diagnosed as causing the underlying balance of payments difficulties. Continued IMF financing under these circumstances, is conditional on the effective implementation of the designed program. In doing so, the IMF takes measures to safeguard the resources of its member countries that are being lent. The IMF is not a charity.”
“Ghana is no stranger to IMF bailouts. Ghana has had several programs with the IMF between 1967 and 2012 (These include programs in 1967, 1972, 1983, 1999, 2001, and 2009). The most recent IMF program with Ghana was
between 2009 and 2012. Ghana’s most recent request for an IMF bailout has taken domestic and international observers as well as analysts by surprise. This is because Ghana was the star of the Africa rising story, the toast of the international development community, and the benchmark for other African countries for a number of reasons…”
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