Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Check internal factors to fix country’s economic woes

It is now common knowledge that in May last year, the IMF Executive Board approved a US$3 billion 36-month extended credit facility arrangement for Ghana, out of which the global financial institution has so far disbursed two tranches of $600 million each.

Currently, the Managing Director (MD) of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, and a team are in the country to conclude the second review of the programme, whose successful completion will facilitate the release of the third tranche.

At a bilateral meeting on Sunday, the Minister of Finance-designate, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, assured the IMF team of Ghana’s commitment to keeping to the IMF programme in order that it would not be derailed.

We can fathom that this assurance is obviously coming as a result of the reshuffling of Mr. Ken Ofori Atta, the finance minister who started the process with the IMF.

It can also be a way of making the IMF accept that it is dealing with a state and not an individual.

On that score, we can conclude that Dr. Amin Adam is well aware of all the demands or conditionalities undergirding the successful completion of the programme.

Since the whole programme is about stabilising the country’s economy and stabilisation has to do with how well the economy is managed, we are happy to hear Dr. Amin Adam say, “I will be aggressive on the revenue side and hold the line on expenditure.”

We know the country is suffering financial stress because of financial mismanagement due to misappropriation and misapplication of state funds, overspending, and corruption.

For instance, in August 2019, www.occrp.org reported that Ghana had been losing US$3 billion to corruption annually, and in May 2022, chraj.gov.gh reported that corruption swallows 20 percent of the country’s budget. We are calling attention to information like this to remind the Minister of Finance-designate that he has an uphill task ahead of him.

Therefore, he should immediately plan how he would get stakeholders like the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Executive (the President and his inner circle), the Auditor-General’s Department, the police, the Attorney General’s Office, the judiciary, and even the media to help him succeed.

The reference to COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war must stop because some of us see it as a flimsy excuse to avoid tackling the country’s major problem: failure to mobilise enough revenue and yet public officials’ penchant to overspend.

For how long should the country borrow? Usually, overspending results from excessive remunerations paid to public officials and over-ambitious state projects, which usually delay and call for re-evaluation that raises the cost.

We think at this juncture, we want to make reference to a remark by the IMF MD at Sunday’s meeting to the effect that “Ghana has very bright prospects, and we need to do the right thing now for these prospects to materialise.”

It is our hope that the government will adhere to the right steps, including policies that will promote the expected resilient and inclusive economic growth.