Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has revealed some members of the Ghana’s delegation meeting officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and their roles following the support the country is seeking from the Fund.
According to him, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is chairing the Ghana team for the engagement with the IMF.
He further stated that the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta is also leading a team on the data-sharing exercise during the engagements.
The data-sharing, the information Minister indicated will determine the fate of Ghana as what the country is qualified for and what it is not qualified for under the programme.
The Information Minister who made these revelations while speaking during the 3businesscolloquium organized by Media General on Wednesday July 6 mentioned that “The President is chairing the task force, the Finance Minister and his team are from today, leading the data-sharing exercise. When they are done the Mission Chief and the President will have a number of conversations. The President has already spoken to the Managing Director of the Fund herself.
“The first part of the conversation is sharing of data. The data has its interpretation and the data will tell us what we qualify for and what we don’t qualify for.”
The IMF staff team, led by Carlo Sdralevich, mission chief for Ghana, is in the country to begin initial discussions with the Ghanaian authorities about a possible IMF-supported programme.
Prior to the arrival, Mr. Sdralevich in a statement said “On the basis of a request from the Ghanaian authorities, an IMF staff team will in the coming days kick-start discussions on a possible program to support Ghana’s homegrown economic policies. We are at an early stage in the process, given that detailed discussions are yet to take place.”
“The IMF stands ready to assist Ghana to restore macroeconomic stability, safeguard debt sustainability, and promote inclusive and sustainable growth, and address the impact of the war in Ukraine and the lingering pandemic.”
“We are looking forward to our engagement with the authorities in Accra,” the Fund said.
The Government of Ghana on Friday July 1 announced that it was seeking support from the IMF.
The Information Minister announced this in a statement following a telephone conversation between the President and the IMF Managing Director, Ms Kristalina Georgieva, conveying Ghana’s decision to engage with the Fund.
By Vincent Kubi