Isaac Adongo, the Member of Parliament for the Bolgatanga Central constituency, has expressed his belief that the $3 billion credit facility between Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was inadequately negotiated by Ghana's representatives.
Adongo criticized the Finance Minister, stating that the IMF's press release announcing the approval of the credit facility reveals the subpar work done on behalf of Ghana.
During an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Adongo remarked, “When you read the IMF release, you will know that this program was poorly negotiated. The Finance Minister was roaming the corridors of the IMF and the corridors of the Paris Club just to get this program through.”
He further highlighted the lack of clarity regarding the government's own program and negotiating position, emphasizing that Ghana ended up with the IMF designing the program and imposing it on the country due to a lack of direction.
Adongo expressed concern over the challenges outlined in the IMF document, describing the situation as “very, very difficult.”
He noted, “This is the first time we have been to the IMF basically not being compliant with the debt sustainability situation of the IMF… COVID-19 took advantage of pre-existing vulnerabilities of the economy… we were suffering from heightened fiscal and external vulnerabilities.”
According to Adongo, these vulnerabilities were repeatedly raised but not adequately addressed until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, May 17, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund granted approval for Ghana's $3 billion bailout request, which aims to rejuvenate the country's struggling economy following months of negotiations.
