The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed the earlier dire projections by Dr. Bawumia Mahamadu on Ghana’s ailing economy.
“Before government went for this current bailout programme from the IMF, Dr. Bawumia had diagnosed the massive failures in government policy and warned of its consequences,” the party said.
[contextly_sidebar id=”umxVCGihCFW0MNUtxwj26TWNACw2eHz4″]According to the NPP, Dr Bawumia had warned since 2013 that the forex controls put in place to stop the cedis slide were “adhoc, artificial and would not work.”
He had also warned of the dire consequences of government policy, such as the cedi sliding to GHC4 a dollar by July 2014, which would compell the government to resort to an IMF bailout.
Speaking at a lecture dubbed “The IMF Bailout: Will the Anchor Hold?” at the Central University College which was held in March, Dr. Bawumia said most significant reason Ghana resorted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout is because of unsustained borrowing and debt stock
He described Ghana as a Highly Indebted Middle Income Country (HIMIC).
His analysis was however met with condemnation by some government officials, including a statement by President Mahama that government will continue borrowing as government was not borrowing to buy “Kebab.”
A press statement issued by the party however indicated that “all the consequences that Dr. Bwumia warned about have happened; the cedi reached GH4 by July 2014, the forex measures put in place were ineffective and withdrawn in 2014, and Ghana has sought IMF bailout.”
“The IMF’s confirmation of all of Dr. Bawumia’s diagnoses of the government failures and its consequences.”
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah