Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, has criticized the administration for the deal it made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the newly authorized $3 billion bailout.
Ablakwa called the individuals who negotiated the IMF contract on behalf of the Ghanaian people “wicked” in an interview on Friday, May 19, 2023.
The IMF scheme, which was authorized on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, will make life harder for regular Ghanaians, he continued.
“This is going to be the most painful, the most bitter IMF programme. I asked myself who negotiated this on behalf of Ghanaians? Does the person have a heart? Does the person care about Ghanaians?
“The analysis we have shows that because of this (the IMF) bailout, there are going to be 50 new tax measures…. income tax is coming to be progressive. There is going to be quarterly tariff adjustment. So, every quarter, electricity tariffs are going to go up, can you believe that, every quarter?”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Additionally, Ablakwa stated that a further debt restructuring scheme is included in the agreement that was negotiated on behalf of the Ghanaian people. For the three years of the IMF program, he noted, there would also be restrictions on hiring in the public sector.
The $3 billion bailout for Ghana was unanimously authorized by the IMF Executive Board during a meeting on Wednesday [May 17, 2023] in Washington. On the day the bailout was approved, $600 million of the $3 billion loan was disbursed, and for the remainder of the three-year program, $350 million would be disbursed every six months.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva had earlier voiced optimism that Ghana’s growing goodwill from the international community, including its creditors, might ensure the loan’s clearance. She continued by saying that her organization was pressuring the bilateral creditors to give the deal’s board the financial certainty it required right away.
Prior to this, Ghana had fulfilled all requirements for receiving funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its economic recovery program.
Free SHS To be Reviewed To Make It More Targeted
According to Professor John Gatsi, Dean of the University of Cape Coast’s business school, the free senior high school (Free SHS) program and other social interventions, like the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) initiative, will unquestionably be reviewed and made more targeted under the $3 billion IMF program that has been approved for Ghana.
According to Prof. Gatsi, it is typical for an IMF program to prompt a review of cush programs in order to improve their effectiveness.
He said “Indeed they have been told what to do about the free SHS to review it and to make it meet the needs of the people of Ghana, that will be done, definitely, there will be a review of the programme to make it more efficient and more accessible to all the people of Ghana.”
“Other protections for the vulnerable in a society like LEAP and the rest will be made more efficient to be able to be accessed by those who qualify to access.
“So having social perception as part of the programme is normal, we have social protection as part of the earlier IMF programme so if we have social protection again in this one I do not see anything wrong with it but the target of the fund is to make them more productive, to make them more efficient.”
Prof Gatsi
Stéphane Roudet, the mission chief for Ghana, said during a joint press conference with the IMF and Ghana on Thursday in Washington that the social intervention programs would be safeguarded.
There were worries that the bailout will have an impact on social interventions like the free senior high school, the school feeding program, and the LEAP.
But Mr Roudet said “Ensuring adequate social protection is key objective of the programme. The 2023 budget has already taken important steps not only to protect but to bolster support for the vulnerable.”
Ken Ofori-Atta also made the same point that the social intervention programmes will not be touched.
