An Economist at the Economics department of the University of Ghana Dr. Ebo Turkson says Ghanaians must be ready to go through tougher times as Ghana prepares to go into a programme with International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Ghana is expected to begin an IMF programme early next year after the first round of talks with the IMF ended two weeks ago.
Citi Business News has learnt that further talks are expected between the two parties at the annual general meetings of the World Bank and IMF in Washington DC in October.
Some captains of industry have lamented on how the IMF programme will hurt their businesses and will result in high unemployment, which will affect the nation as a whole.
This year has been a challenging year for Ghana.
The year begun with the cedi entering a free fall mode.
By the end of January, the local currency had depreciated by 8%.
The central bank stepped in on February 4 with a set of revised and new foreign exchange rules to arrest the cedi from further fall.
But the rules did not have the expected impact on the cedi which got the central bank to withdraw the rules conceding that there were implementation challenges.
The country also experienced budget overruns and a huge budget deficit worsening the country’s challenges coupled with the wage bill that went beyond manageable levels resulting from the implementation of the single spine salary structure.
Speaking to Citi Business News, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics at the University Of Ghana Dr. Ebo Turkson says the average Ghanaian is going to be made to pay to help solve the mess that has been created by government.
“When we conclude the negotiations the first thing that Ghanaians should expect is that it is going to come at a cost.
When IMF comes in to help out in a situation like that, what is the core reason why you are in that kind of situation? And that is what they are coming to tackle.”
Dr Ebo Turkson hinted to Citi Business News of an impending value added tax imposition on petroleum products.
By: Norvan Acquah Hayford/citifmonline.com/Ghana