Renowned Ghanaian economist, Kwame Pianim has lamented on the current state of the economy.
According to him, Ghana is currently in an economic crisis which requires urgent attention from the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led administration.
Speaking in an interview on Accra based TV3, in relation to the $ 3 billion deal approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said “Now we have to put all our cards on the table, tell Ghanaians we are in a deep crisis.
“Those are the words that the IMF uses, we are in a deep crisis and to solve the deep crisis and get out we have to be serious, declare a state of emergency and tell every Ghanaian we all have to tighten our belts, we are in economic crisis.
“Some of the symbolic cutting will show that we are reducing the size of government to make it lean and smart and that expenditures that are not going to yield output they are going to suspend them.”
Relatedly, President Akufo-Addo has said Ghana will return to the international market to borrow after the IMF bailout approval.
Speaking at the Qatar-Africa Economic Forum in Doha, Mr. Akufo-Addo said even though his government is in no rush to return to the international market, it makes sense to take advantage of the market now and make some savings.
“We have positioned ourselves to be able to go back into the International market which had been a source of funding for us during the first three or four years of our government,” the president said, adding, “There is no rush but obviously why not take advantage of global savings, it makes a lot of sense to me. We will try as much as possible to maintain the discipline which is required and the most important requisite for a successful programme.”
President Akufo-Addo also said his government will embark on rigorous expenditure cuts and revenue mobilisation exercises.
