Prof. Bopkin slams finance ministry's report on Anti-LGBT+ Bill

Finance expert and lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Godfred Bokpin, has criticized the Ministry of Finance's report that warned President Akufo-Addo of the financial risks of signing the anti-LGBT+ bill.

The report, which is five pages long, claimed that Ghana could lose more than US$3.8 billion in World Bank funding if the president approved the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024, also known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.

The bill was passed by the Parliament of Ghana on Wednesday, February 28.

Professor Bokpin, who spoke on “The Key Points” show on TV3 on Saturday, March 9, said that the report was not based on solid evidence and that it was meant to scare the president and the Ghanaian people.

According to him, signing the Anti-LGBT+ Bill will not affect the agreement that Ghana has with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

“The evidence on the ground does not conclusively support the position of the Ministry of Finance and that is why one would be wondering why the Ministry of Finance would seek to put that fear in the president and put fear in Ghanaians,” he stated.

He also said that aid is not a reliable source of income for Ghana and that the country should not depend on it.

He added that Ghana had already initiated a plan to become self-reliant in 2018, when it launched the Ghana Beyond Aid.

Professor Bopkin warned that aid was dwindling globally and that Ghana is not an exception, regardless of its good reputation among donors.

“In 2018, Ghana had already started discussing about developing our country to the point that is beyond it needing aid. We had a Ghana Beyond Aid charter… even without going into the substance of this, there is something as a country we ought to know; aid, whether we sign this bill or not aid, sustainably is not going to be there.

"Aid has been declining, it doesn’t matter that Ghana is a donor-darling country; aid is no more there even on a sustainable basis,” Prof. Bokpin stated.

He explained that the country should focus on its own development rather than the opinions of foreign donors.

Background

Parliament on February 28 passed the Promotion of Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, also known as the Anti-LGBT+ Bill.

The Ministry of Finance on Monday, March 4, pointed out dreadful implications of the president assenting to the anti-gay bill.

In a brief on the implications of assenting to the Bill by President Akufo-Addo, the Ministry of Finance said the country stands to lose huge financial support from the Bretton Woods institutions.

“In total, Ghana is likely to lose US$3.8 billion in World Bank Financing over the next five to six years. For 2024, Ghana will lose US$600 million budget support and US$250 million for the Financial Stability Fund. This will negatively impact Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate stability as these inflows are expected to shore up the country’s reserve position,” parts of the brief read.

The ministry further cautioned that, “The potential loss of these financial resources will create a financing gap in the 2024 budget that the government must address through additional domestic revenue mobilisation and a significant reduction in expenditure. Failing this, Government’s ability to achieve the targets in the 2024 Budget will be undermined and the IMF-ECF Programme is likely to be derailed.”

The finance ministry's position, however, has been refuted by experts who have accused it of being manipulated and that the signing of the Bill by the president would, in no way, affect the financial situation of the country.

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