Two times World Bank, IMF has been blamed for Ghana’s economic crisis

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been accused of looking on without caution as Ghana borrows itself into unsustainable levels.

The accusations have been made so far on two occasions. First, the World Bank was said to have been actively present during power purchasing agreements but looked on as the country negotiated some deals that were not beneficial to the country.

President of policy think tank, IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe stated that the World Bank is actively involved in Ghana’s energy sector recovery programme, therefore, the Bank’s statement about a chunk of the country’s debt emanating from that sector is questionable.

In a post on June 5, 2023, he wrote “It is true that some take or pay power contracts signed by the NDC were very expensive. The current government set up committees to review them. However, the terms of these contracts were extended.

“In effect, as ACEP's Ben Boakye puts it, the same power plants the World Bank director complains about have been extended to long-term agreements without caution from the Bank".

The World Bank in Ghana has been a very active financial supporter of Ghana's Energy Sector Recovery Programme for the past four years. So, there you are,” he added.

An Economist Dr. Yamson has also questioned the World Bank for not cautioning Ghana enough on reckless borrowing.

”I have always said that sometimes the Fund and the Bank have to share in the blame because they themselves don’t say it as it should be said. They were aware, long time, that the government was doing things that would push this country into a crisis.

“When we were borrowing literally every year were they not aware? All that they’ll put in their report is that excessive borrowing will lead you to debt distress, a simple sentence. And beyond that what else did they do? Did they say to government stop? Never,” he said.

SSD/NOQ