IMF suggests passing an anti-gay bill could negatively impact Ghana’s new loan prospects - London Professor

A Professor of Politics at the London Metropolitan University, UK, Emeritus Prof. Jeffrey Haynes, has noted that Ghana may stand at a disadvantage with its donors, especially the International Monetary Fund, if it proceeds to pass the anti-LGBTQI bill.

Debunking assertions that Ghana is being held ransom by the West because of its decision to pass the LGBTQI+ bill, the professor said the IMF should be Ghana's main focus since it is one of its biggest creditors.

According to him, the International Monetary Fund works with the values of the United Nations, and that may be the reason Ghana's decision to pass the Bill may have some repercussions.

He added that, given Ghana's high debt levels, it may be catastrophic if its source of funding is completely shut out.

Speaking to journalists at the 19th Annual "Kronti ne Akwamu" (Democracy and Good Governance) public lecture in Accra, he said: "The US is not a problem. The main one is the International Monetary Fund. We know that Ghana is heavily indebted to the IMF, its debt is rising very fast, getting to the billions of dollars."

"The IMF has indicated that if the anti-gay bill is passed, it will reflect badly on its desire to give Ghana new loans, and it's not because the IMF is imperious or colonial, because the IMF is a United Nations body," he said.

Prof. Haynes said the notion that Ghana is being held ransom by its "colonial masters" because it has declared its stance on LGBTQI+ is misleading.

"I think it's wrong to portray it as the West holding Ghana to ransom over this; it's rather that Ghana is moving away from the international values that it signed up to years ago, and the IMF will feel obliged to threaten Ghana's new loans, and this, as you all know, will be catastrophic for Ghana's economic prospects," he added.



SSD/OGB

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