Remove fuel subsidies now - IMF tells gov't

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has renewed its call for the total removal of fuel and utility subsidies.

According to the IMF, this will significantly reduce the country’s fiscal deficit and provide more revenue for government for developmental projects.

Christina Daseking, head of IMF Mission who visited Ghana last week in an interview with XYZ BUSINESS said government must heed to their advice.

“We have said in the past and we continue to say that fuel subsidies should be removed and replaced by targeted spending to those people who need support and to cushion the impact of that”

The IMF Chief also advised government to reduce its domestic borrowing to push interest rates down. The IMF also called on government to control the rising wage bill which could affect the country’s transformation agenda.

“The mission urged the government to gain control over the wage bill" adding that "the IMF recommends a thorough audit of the 2012 payroll".