Govt. had no choice but to sign – Dept. Finance Minister
After several demands from concerned Ghanaians, government has given reasons for its decision to extend the country’s International Monetary Fund Credit Facility by a year.
The IMF according to government had threatened to promptly cancel the deal if it refused to go along with the terms of the proposal, hence the extension.
The revelation was made this morning by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Kwaku Kwarteng.
According to Mr. Kwarteng, the credit facility had underperformed according to reports the IMF and the only solution was for an extension.
He explained that, the government felt no need for an extension, thus, expressed it to the IMF. However, they were surprised by the response of the IMF which claimed it would terminate the deal.
The deal will now end in April 2019 instead of the initial 2018 it was supposed to end.
The incumbent New Patriotic Party when it was in opposition lambasted the National Democratic Congress, the incumbent at the time for entering the country into the IMF programme.
The extension will see the continuation of the freeze of government sector employment due to the IMF approving an additional 94 million dollar disbursement.
In defense of the IMF programme, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng said, the extension was necessary in order to not tarnish the image of Ghana.
