IMF has no solution for Ghana – TUC claims

Government to head to IMF for financial assistance, Gabby hints

Ghana has run to IMF 16 times, Dr Baah

TUC cautions government against going to IMF

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has rubbished calls on government to run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance.

According to the Secretary-General of TUC, Dr Yaw Baah, IMF has no solution to the problems of Ghana.

To buttress his claim, he said Ghana has run to the IMF 16 times for help yet, the economy is still in a wobbling state.

Speaking in an interview with TV3 on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, Dr Yaw Baah said, “We have advised the government not to go to the IMF because IMF has no solution for Ghana. The government has been to IMF 16 times for IMF programmes, but we are where we are today. Therefore, that is not the solution. It is like saying this is not working but let us do more of it; it doesn’t make sense. We will be very surprised if the government goes to IMF.”

His comment comes after a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko hinted of plans by government to head to IMF for help.

According to him, the move comes after the most-talked about tax measure, Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) failed to accumulate projected revenue.

Meanwhile, an Economist, David Yaw Mordey, has urged government to cut down on its expenditure and expand its capital investment to save some money.

He said the IMF conditionalities will not be favourable to Ghanaians.

“We go to the IMF for policy credibility. If in 2020 you overspent, the following year you try to scale it down. We have made the law, Fiscal Responsibility Act, which mandates you to be within a certain threshold. All you have to do is to reduce your consumption expenditure and expand your capital investment. That is the only way we can address the fundamental issues in the economy,” he said.

ESA/FNOQ