Freeze in government sector employment is expected to continue till April 2019 following an extension of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme with Ghana.
The IMF approved the extension during a meeting between the government of Ghana and the Executive Board of the Fund.
President Akufo-Addo during his maiden encounter with senior journalists at the Flagstaff House recently stated that government will not extend the programme after it ends on December 2018.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the issue, the Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee, and Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah explained that the first quarter of 2019 will present the IMF board an opportunity to assess the impact of the overall programme.
“You recall that immediately following the press conference, the Finance Ministry released a statement that what the president actually meant was that when the programme ends in 2018 there will be no further extension. The extension to my understanding is to end in December 2018, but the fund will need a period after that to assess the entire programme,” he said.
Dr. Assibey-Yeboah stated that the assessment will not be comprehensive if it is undertaken in the last quarter of 2018 since the budget cycle will end in December 2018.
Touching on freeze of public sector employment, Dr. Assibey-Yeboah observed that all the conditionalities including the freeze on public sector recruitment holds.
Meanwhile, the Fund has announced that completion of the fourth Extended Credit Facility review has enabled the disbursement of $94 million.
This brings the total disbursement under the programme to $565.2 million, with the remainder subject future reviews.
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By: Lawrence Segbefia/Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana