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The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde is calling on government to adhere strictly to measures agreed with the IMF as a sure way of reviving the economy.
[contextly_sidebar id=”WubKTFP2EJT12JXoohbLfrKP7oig2PEQ”]She further indicated that the country must also implement those measures intended to diversify the economy to reduce vulnerabilities.
Ms Lagarde said this when she responded to questions from the Daily Graphic on Tuesday.
According to her Ghana made tremendous strides over the past 15 years and ranked among the fast growing countries in Africa that have made significant progress in poverty reduction, but the discovery of oil might have given the illusion that the public finance imbalances would get resolved easily.
She said the key to success lies in Ghana’s commitment to put in place measures that address the underlying causes of the huge budget deficits we have seen in the past.
The IMF board approved a bailout programme for Ghana and the first tranche of $114 million out of the $914 million has been released to the nation.
Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper has said the first tranche of the IMF bailout fund will go a long way in supporting Ghana’s economy.
He argued that the first “tranche is what we need and then there would be IMF review that are coming,” insisting that “What is happening to the cedi is fiscal.”
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Betty Kankam Boadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana