Seth Terkper, former Finance Minister
A former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has said the test of resilience as far as the local economy is concerned is not to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after “exit” when crises strike.
He said the government should manage the situation itself because that is what some countries did by distributing their Special Drawing Rights (SDR) cash to lower-income countries or using the money to enhance their financial position with the Fund.
“The point? NDC was accused of going to IMF (2014) but NPP continued the Program, did not opt for only advice but took a balance of $988m. After “exit” (2018), NPP rushes to IMF for $1b COVID-19 cash & (2022) SDR $1b, is used to reduce the deficit, not invest.
“The test of resilience is not to go to IMF after “exit” when crises strike but manage it by yourself. That is what some countries did by distributing their SDR cash to lower-income countries or using the money to enhance their financial position with the Fund.
His comments come after Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta while speaking at the government’s town-hall meeting to discuss the E-levy on Thursday, 27 January 2022, indicated that the E-levy must be passed to avoid going back on the IMF for financial support.
“When we were in the IMF program, we couldn’t pay for nurses and teachers,” Mr. Ofori Atta said; “we couldn’t hire any more because there were restrictions on that. I mean, it’s just really thinking you can go back to Egypt.”
“In a way, we have forgotten how difficult and tenacious that master from Washington was.”
“So, we can deal with them for them to give us advice but we need not ever get into an IMF program [again]. If we don’t do this E-levy, we’re just pushing ourselves in a way that would potentially end up in such a disaster,” Ofori-Atta said.
