A representation from Georgetown University in Washington D.C, constituting about forty (40) Business and Global Affairs Students and eight (8) Faculty heads have paid a visit to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in Ghana.
The university’s visit is part of their Global Immersion Training and focused on how the extraordinary shifts which was currently underway in the global power structure, the global economy and the interconnected global problems were impacting politics and business at the country level especially in the Global south.
“The primary learning objective for their visit to the Ministry was to enhance their understanding of complex problems and have the ability to tackle complex problems at the intersection of business, policy, and civil society worldwide and also have a deeper understanding of Ghana’s engagement with the IMF and the issues relating to the debt restructuring.”
MoF
In his welcome address, Mr. Augustus Kwasi Adu, the Director for Policy Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation, who spoke on behalf of the Chief Director, noted that, the Ministry was grateful to the University for choosing it as one of the preferred places to visit.
Mr. Adu assured the visitors of the Ministry’s ability to provide the required information through presentations on Ghana’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), debt restructuring, and an overview of the macro-economy, as requested by the school.
Professor Mario Ramirez, the leader of the team, expressed gratitude to the Minister of Finance and the Ministry’s staff for their hospitable reception and mentioned that the presentations on the economy of Ghana will assist the students in gaining a hands-on understanding of their university curriculum.
Speaking about how they were able to make a successful entry into the country and for that matter, MoF, Prof. Ramirez recalled that it was after a program at Georgetown University in October 2022, in which the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, was present.
According to Mario, it was there that the group ceased the opportunity to inform him of their desire to visit the Ministry of Finance as part of their global immersion training.
MoF Educates Its Visitors
Going by Mr. Adu’s words, the visiting team were taken through a number of presentations with the first presentation done by Mr. Kwame Gyesaw, Head of the Macro-Fiscal Unit, at the Economic Strategy and Research Division.
Mr. Gyesaw took them through an overview of the economy and its challenges as well as explained to them what the recent economic developments and challenges of the country are, stating that, the global conditions affected the conditions in Ghana including the financial and energy sectors.
“Global inflation, hikes in global interest rate, tighter global financing conditions, hikes in global crude oil among others were some of the challenges that pushed the country to the IMF for financial bailout.”
Mr. Gyesaw
The Head of the Macro-Fiscal Unit continued his delivery by outlining the measures put in place by the government to fast track the IMF programme negotiations, improve fiscal space, as well as revenue and expenditure in order to improve debt sustainability.
The second presentation was on the Evolution of Ghana’s Debt Challenges and Ghana’s IMF Programme and this session was handled by Abdul Fatawu Hakeem on behalf of the Director for Treasury and Debt Management Division, Mr. Samuel Arkhurst.
Abdul Hakeem discussed macroeconomic instability, the increase in borrowing costs, stricter financing conditions, and provided a summary of the dynamics of public debt and the Domestic Debt Exchange program.
Furthermore, Mr. Hakeem mentioned that the government had achieved substantial progress in re-establishing sustainability on both macro and micro level and gave the recent Staff Level Agreement with IMF as one of several examples of actions taken to improve the economy.
After the presentations, the key note presenters answered questions asked on both sessions.
“A short video documentary on the Ministry’s values which were Professional, Ethical, Efficient and Responsive (PEER) was shown during the meeting.”
MoF
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