The Executive Director of the Institute Of Fiscal Studies (IFS) Professor Newman Kusi is projecting Ghana will slip at the first review of the International Monetary Fund extended credit facility program in November this year.
[contextly_sidebar id=”beBPVE6oXQCDL36gvnxk5rWJ2IrTDZN3″]According to Professor Kusi , Ghana cannot meet some of the conditionalities under the program.
Among other things, he said labour unions would reject efforts to cut expenditure by right-sizing the civil service which is one of the main pillars of the program.
Speaking to Citi Business News after presenting a statement together with IMANI Ghana Professor Kusi said, “They must front load the fiscal consolidation, they are saying we must contain expenditure by addressing the wage bill increase. On the wage side the only advantage is by cleaning the payroll but in terms of the size we can do nothing about it”.
Responding to what the implications would be if Ghana slips at the first review, he said,”If government slips, it will depend on the seriousness of the slip and the areas of the slippages… if you are not able to meet a particular performance criteria depending upon your reason for your inability to meet it you can then plead for them to waive that one for you and they can say yes or no. if they say they won’t give you a waiver it means the next disbursement of the money won’t come through”.
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By: Rabiu Alhassan/citifmonline.com/Ghana