Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has expressed worry about recent forecasts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of a worldwide slowdown, tighter global financial conditions, and a dramatic pickup in global inflation.
Already, the global financial conditions have spilled into countries in Africa, particularly Ghana, which have already been wearied by an ongoing series of shocks.
The minister, in a tweet, said “the forecasts about the global and African economies 2023 are very worrying,” and urged the country’s financial experts to interrogate these forecasts and their causes.
“I encourage my colleagues in economic discourse to interrogate these forecasts and their causes. Additionally, we should examine the adequacy of responses by governments and the proposed alternatives,” he added.
The IMF has said sub-Saharan Africa’s recovery has been abruptly interrupted after activity bounced back last year, lifting GDP growth in 2021 to 4.7 percent.
The influential financial institution stated that growth in 2022 is expected to slow sharply by more than 1 percentage point to 3.6 percent.
Already, rising food and energy prices are impacting the region’s most vulnerable, and public debt and inflation are at levels not seen in decades, the IMF had indicated.
As a result, and with limited options, many countries find themselves pushed closer to the edge, it said.
It added that the near-term outlook is extremely uncertain as the region’s prospects are tied to developments in the global economy and with a number of countries facing difficult sociopolitical and security situations at home.
The fund had demanded that within this challenging environment, policymakers confront immediate socioeconomic crises as they arise, while also endeavouring to reduce vulnerabilities to future shocks, building resilience.
“Ultimately, however, the region’s safety and prosperity will require high-quality growth and the implementation of policies that will set the stage for a sustainable recovery, helping countries move away from the edge,” it intimated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu