An Economist, Prof. Patrick Asuming, has noted that even though Ghana may miss some of its targets, the International Monetary Fund may likely be lenient with the new government.
According to him, the current government has demonstrated its commitment towards fiscal discipline an act that could signal a good position to the Fund.
If Ghana is able to secure waivers, it would provide some flexibility in meeting program targets, particularly in the face of economic challenges
The Fourth review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme has entered its second day of discussions to facilitate the disbursement of the next tranche of the $3 billion loan.
“We definitely would miss some targets. No question about that. The period for this ends on 31st December. We missed some of the performance criteria. We definitely missed the inflation target. We probably missed some of the fiscal targets in particular the deficit target. I think we also missed a couple of structural targets. But I think as a new government, probably the IMF will be willing to cut them some slack,” he told citinewsroom.com
He lauded the government’s resolve to enhance fiscal discipline to ensure expenditure rationalization.
“The government seems aggressive in trying to implement it fiscal programs. I have seen that they have passed the Public Financial Management Act,” Asuming said.
The Economist has also asked the government to maintain transparency in its negotiations on tax reforms.
“We don’t want a situation where they go and agree something with the IMF when the Ghanaian academia as well as the business community is not fully informed,” he added.
