Mutawakil Alhassan, a financial analyst with Dalex Finance and Leasing Company Limited in Accra, has urged the Ghanaian government to prioritize its Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative over seeking additional funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
His remarks were made during a discussion on A1 Radio in response to comments made by Finance Minister-designate Ato Forson about the country’s economic recovery strategy.
Forson had suggested the possibility of seeking further financial assistance from the IMF, prompting a cautionary response from Mutawakil. He expressed concern about the potential over-reliance on external funding, describing Forson’s mention of IMF support as a “red flag” for Ghana’s economic future.
However, Forson later clarified during his vetting process that the country “could” consider additional IMF funding without definitively committing to it.
While acknowledging the importance of external financial support, Mutawakil emphasized that focusing on internal solutions would provide a more sustainable path to economic recovery. He pointed to the ORAL initiative, which aims to recover resources lost through corruption, mismanagement, and other forms of economic leakage.
According to estimates, about $18.4 trillion has been lost to the state over the years, an amount Mutawakil believes could significantly aid the country’s recovery if even a fraction of it is recovered.
“If we manage to recover even a quarter of the $18.4 trillion, it will do the country much more good than seeking external loans or bailouts,” Mutawakil argued, underscoring the need for a homegrown solution to Ghana’s fiscal challenges.
He further criticized Ghana’s previous engagement with the IMF, particularly the $3 billion support received from the organization. He stated that this financial assistance, disbursed in tranches, did not address the country’s deep-rooted structural economic issues.
The ORAL initiative, which forms a key part of President-elect John Dramani Mahama’s anti-corruption agenda, aims to establish a specialized task force to investigate corruption, recover misappropriated state resources, and prosecute individuals or entities found guilty of embezzling public funds. The program is seen as a critical step toward reclaiming resources for national development, particularly from cases under the previous administration.
Mutawakil called for a reassessment of the government’s economic recovery approach, suggesting that focusing on the retrieval of stolen state assets would provide a more viable and self-sustaining solution for Ghana’s fiscal stability.
He concluded that this strategy could help the country avoid further dependency on external debt while promoting national growth and development.
Source: A1Radioonline.com | 101.1MHz | Gifty Eyram Kudiabor | Ghana