Ghana Has Gone to IMF Again: Greater Transparency Needed – Prof. Gatsi Raises Red Flag

The Dean of University of Cape Coast Business School, Prof. John Gatsi has raised red flag transparency following the announcement that the Government of Ghana is set to receive another US$1billion to support the economy.  ADVERTISEMENT

Speaking to Awake News, Prof. Gatsi said though the “is described as non-loan because is made available as a result of Ghana’s shareholding in the IMF”, the “Truth is if we don’t need it we will not go for it.”

According to the economist, “Truth is if we don’t need it we will not go for it. What is left is the assurance of transparency in the use of this money bearing in mind we are yet to read the Covid expenditure audit report ” adding that  the “Government should quickly announce how it planned to use this money to ensure accountability.”

Prof. Gatsi, revealed that the “The IMF over the years has been criticized for contributing to the economic management and governance of Ghana through many of its interventions. Despite the criticism, it is on record that the IMF has provided critical fiscal, balance of payment and policy interventions without which the Ghanaian economy would have suffered near collapse”

“Between 2001 to date, we can mention the HIPC initiative by the NPP which strategically guided government to invest the benefits in social interventions. Another one was the extended credit facility under the NDC in 2015 and was extended by the NPP. In 2020, the IMF again supported the government under NPP with US$1billion called rapid credit facility to deal with Covid -19 pandemic. This was a loan with repayment starting after 5years with no interest.”

– he told Awake News