TUC: Ghana doesn’t need IMF to succeed

Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) has warned the government that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cannot help it to revive the ailing economy.

According to the TUC, IMF-sponsored policies cannot change the economic fortunes of the oil-producing country.

“We need strong and bold leaders who can formulate and implement appropriate made-in-Ghana policies,” the acting Secretary-General of the TUC Dr Yaw Baah said in a statement in response to the government’s 2015 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament.

The statement said the union is studying the budget and will come out with a “more comprehensive analysis and assessment.”

The Mahama-led administration is in advanced talks with the IMF for a bailout as the Cedi struggles to match-up with other major foreign currencies. The Breton Wood institution has hailed Ghana’s 2015 budget, but the TUC has a different view.

“We expected the budget to fully reflect the Senchi Consensus as basis for economic transformation. But we regret to note that government policies have remained stealthily unchanged. We do not believe that the same policies that nearly led to the collapse of our economy can solve our economic and social problems, especially the excruciating poverty that has afflicted over seven million of our compatriots,” it said.

“We are not surprised that the Minister of Finance boldly announced that the net employment freeze in the public sector will continue. We insist that government has to create more jobs in some of the public services, with special reference to education, health, sanitation and security sectors,” the TUC statement said.