The Navrongo Constituency Secretary for the New Patriotic Party, Moses Amoah has mounted a spirited defence in favour of the government’s rather shocking return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Mr. Amoah also backed the president’s recent comments that the country’s return to the IMF could not be attributed to the inadequacies of the government’s economic strategies.
He said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s flagship political programme, Critical Issues today, Friday, August 26, 2022.
In his defence, Mr. Amoah said “it is only a fool that doesn’t change his mind”.
“The government saying that the return to the IMF cannot be blamed entirely on him is spot on. Everything the President says is backed by facts. Not facts from me, not facts from me, not facts from the NPP but facts from agencies that are responsible for some of these things were are talking about.”
“Initially, it wasn’t the NPP’s plan to go to the IMF. Some of the commentaries from some of our officials would vindicate what I am saying. The Finance Minister said we would not go to IMF. Some of our leaders said we would not go to the IMF and the plan was to use homegrown policies and programmes to ensure that our economy becomes very stable and strong but there is a saying that it is only a fool that doesn’t not change his mind.”
Mr. Amoah explained that some of the government’s strategies to deal with the external factors affecting the country’s economy could not live up to expectation. He cited the E-levy as a critical example.
“When you look at the estimates that the E-levy was going to give us became a mirage. It became something that did not live up to our expectation.”
Mr. Amoah, citing portions of the IMF report after the organisation’s initial interaction with stakeholders in the economy, explained that the report confirms the President’s position.
According to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the government cannot be held responsible for the decision to pursue an IMF-supported program.
“In fact, the big difference that we are having in Ghana today and why we have gone back to the IMF is that everybody recognises it is not as a result of my mismanagement, as was the case during the tenure of the previous government.
“The reality is that there are global inflation, high commodity prices, among others, and all these have been the principal reasons for the difficulties we are having as a country,” he said.
In an interview with Damongo-based PAD FM as part of his two-day tour of the area, President Akufo-Addo made this statement.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
