President Akufo-Addo has rebuffed claims that the numerous social intervention programmes being undertaken by his administration may leave a debt burden that will take Ghana back to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), soon after exiting from a programme with the fund.
The president is hopeful the fiscal discipline embarked upon by the Economic Management Team of the government will enable Ghana make prudence use of the country’s natural resources.
Government has embarked on a number of programmes to bring some relief to Ghanaians.
Some of the major programmes include; Free Senior High School, Planting for Food and Jobs, One District, Factory, One Village One Dam, One constituency One million dollars, among others
Reacting to a question in his second encounter with some selected journalists at the Flagstaff House today, [1/17/2018] Nana Akufo-Addo explained that, unlike him, the erstwhile John Mahama administration was not fiscally disciplined.
“My view is that if they [Mahama administration] have been more disciplined in the management of the public finances, we will not have had to recourse to the IMF in 2013 like we did,” he criticized.
According to him, government has so far not seen a mismanagement of state resources due to the fiscal and monetary discipline being enforced by the government.
“The most important aspect of it is the discipline that government and the people of the country are prepared to undergo. That will be the best indication as to your capacity to continue, or whether you need to rush to Washington for a bailout”.
He maintained that Ghana will not need to go back to the IMF for a bailout if managers of the economy are prudent with the use of public funds.
He stated that the IMF merely holds government to a system that will prevent budget overruns and over expending.
Nana Akufo-Addo was of the view that with the right people, Ghana can implement all the major social intervention programmes to bring relief to Ghanaians while the country’s resources are prudently used.
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By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
