A founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Samuel Odoi-Sykes, is predicting a possible defeat for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the next elections, if they accept the wrong bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Mr. Odoi-Sykes predicted in an exclusive interview with Citi News that the IMF bailout is likely to bring untold hardship on Ghanaians, and advised government’s team that will lead the negotiations to consider all aspects of the package and the consequences thereof.
“One of them is that the people will have to suffer,” he warned.
“…If you think the suffering will be unbearable,” then it must weigh its options properly during negotiations with the IMF, as far as the bailout is concerned.A team of IMF experts are expected in the country to negotiate and fashion out a programme to suit the country’s needs as well as discuss policy alternatives with the Bank of Ghana.
According to President Mahama, the decision to open discussions with the IMF was not because of the failure of government’s own home grown solutions, but because of the need for policy credibility and confidence from the international financial institutions, capital markets and investors for the measures being implemented to restore economic stability and growth.
“So we are going to discuss with the IMF how we can turn the deficit around quickly and create the kind of confidence even in the short-term narrative,”
The IMF in August announced it had received a formal request from Ghana to initiate discussions on an economic programme that could be supported by the IMF.
The Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, Min Zhu in a statement said: “The Fund stands ready to help Ghana address the current economic challenges it is facing.”
“An IMF team will be sent to Ghana in early September to initiate discussions on a programme,” he added.
A former Finance Minister Dr Kwesi Botchwey is expected to lead Ghana’s economic team that will enter into negotiations.
Source: citi Online
