In a series of tweets shared on Tuesday, the IMANI vice president said that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is simply being loyal to its client the government of Ghana by stating its (the government's) position.
According to him, the fund did the same thing to Sri Lanka when it aligned with its government's position that things were getting better just before its economy crashed.
“Some have asked why the IMF Boss seems to absolve Ghana's leaders whilst CSOs insist that govt policies are highly contributory to the current crisis. Simple. The IMF tries to mirror the govt client it is serving. When the last Zambian govt blamed COVID & drought, IMF aligned.
“When the new Zambian govt changed tune & blamed mismanagement, the IMF aligned. Truth is that despite the diplomatic language & polite reassurances, Zambia's debt crisis, despite calls on IMF to help fix it, has lingered for 6yrs & recent progress has required hard decisions.
“Take the Sri Lankan situation for e.g. In late 2019, just before the then govt lost power, the IMF had to align with govt's position of strong fiscal discipline. When the new govt started accusing the old of fiscal recklessness, the IMF realigned ahead of reviving the IMF program,” parts of the tweets read.
He added that rather than trying to spin the statement made by the IMF, the government should focus on putting measures in place to get the country out of the current situation.
Speaking on the side-lines of the Fund’s engagements with the Ghanaian delegation, the Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, stated that contrary to the narrative from some opposition elements, Ghana is not in these challenges because of any bad policies of the Akufo-Addo administration.
“We have started very constructive discussions already and to the people of Ghana, like everybody on this planet, you have been hurt by exogenous shocks,” she said.
She mentioned the extraneous factors which have contributed to Ghana’s economic woes leading to the West African country seeking a programme from the IMF.
“First the pandemic, then Russia’s war in Ukraine. We need to realize that it is not because of bad policies in the country but because of this combination of shocks, and, therefore, we have to support Ghana,” she said.
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Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons