Ghana won’t stop IMF deal however desires modifications, says president-elect

By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila

ACCRA (Reuters) – Ghana’s President-elect John Dramani Mahama has stated he won’t abandon the nation’s $3 billion rescue bundle with the Worldwide Financial Fund, however desires to evaluate the deal to deal with wasteful state spending and improve the vitality sector.

Mahama, a former president who gained the Dec. 7 election by a large margin, instructed Reuters late on Friday he would additionally search to deal with inflation and foreign money depreciation to mitigate a cost-of-living disaster within the West African nation.

Mahama had stated beforehand that he would renegotiate the IMF programme secured by the federal government of outgoing President Nana Akufo in 2023.

“Once I discuss renegotiation, I do not imply we’re jettisoning the programme,” Mahama stated.

“We’re sure by it however what we’re saying is throughout the programme, it ought to be attainable to make some changes to go well with actuality.”

Ghana’s electoral fee declared Mahama, who was in workplace from 2012-16, winner of the presidential ballot with 56.55% of the vote.

The president-elect of the world’s quantity two cocoa producer inherits a nation rising from its worst financial disaster in a era, with turmoil in its important cocoa and gold industries.

FOCUS ON SPENDING, ENERGY

The IMF deal helped to halve inflation and returned the economic system to progress, however Mahama stated extra work was wanted to ease financial hardship.

“The financial state of affairs is dire … and I will put my soul, physique and every little thing into it and give attention to making lives higher for Ghanaians,” stated Mahama, whose Nationwide Democratic Congress social gathering additionally gained comfortably in a parliamentary vote held on Dec. 7.

He stated the “multiplicity of taxes” agreed to as a part of the IMF programme had made Ghana “disagreeable for enterprise”.

“We additionally suppose that (the IMF) haven’t put sufficient strain on the federal government to chop wasteful expenditures,” he stated, including a evaluate would intention to cut back spending, together with by the president’s workplace.

“If the president is asking us to tighten our belt, he should additionally tighten his,” he stated.

Mahama stated the IMF had agreed to ship an early mission to conduct an everyday evaluate, including discussions would give attention to “tips on how to smoothen out the debt restructuring” that’s now in its ultimate lap.

He stated a revised IMF deal would additionally search sustainable options to the vitality issues to keep away from sustained energy outages.

“We will face fairly a essential state of affairs within the vitality sector. The electrical energy firm of Ghana is the ‘sick man’ of the entire worth chain and we have to shortly repair it,” Mahama stated.