Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has expressed grave concern about the government’s management of the Ghanaian Cedi.
He is predicting potential challenges that could jeopardize the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme by end of the year.
Critiquing the government’s fiscal strategies, Dr Forson argued that the measures taken to stabilise the national currency are inadequate and may yield adverse effects on the economy.
On Wednesday, May 15, the minority caucus raised alarm regarding the government’s recent decision to borrow GH¢7 billion from the treasury bills market to pay contractors beyond its budgetary allocations.
The Minority contended that this practice of extending expenditure beyond the budget for political reasons is exacerbating the depreciation of the cedi against the dollar.
In an interview with Citi FM on Thursday, May 16, Dr Forson emphasised that the current trajectory suggests a potential setback for the IMF programme, which was previously on course.
“Let me be honest with you, this programme is certainly going to be derailed by the end of this year and it is going to take a while. I have no doubt about that… let’s wait and see. It is actually on the back of the fiscal,”he predicted.
“They were on course but as you know the review dates back. So, the next review is going to use the data as of December last year. So the programme indicators to check whether the programme is performing or not is going to use data six months before the time of review.”
“So, obviously six months before it was good. But I can tell you that based on the data and the way they are conducting the affairs of the policy going forward, there is going to be a complete commotion,” he added.
Source: myjoyonline.com
