Seth Terkper, former Finance Minister under the John Dramani Mahama administration, has advised the government of Ghana to be transparent with Ghana’s debt situation as the country has begun talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout.
According to him, the openness and frankness of the government will enable both parties to devise some important measures that will go a long way in tackling the fiscal and structural challenges currently facing the country.
“The IMF has been complaining already about the lack of transparency, so I think if we want to make progress, we need to be very open so we know the depth of the problems,” Terkper said on Citi FM’s ‘The Big Issue’ on Saturday, July 9, 2022.
He said, to improve the country’s fiscal needs the government should drift Ghana’s budget from “one-time bonds”.
“In 2020, we had the covid loan and the Bank of Ghana to cover up. Nearly 6 billion flowed into the economy but we still had challenges. If we are concerned about ratings we must move the budget away from one-time bonds that go into consumption,” he added.
For the 17th time, Ghana has begun talks with the IMF for help as the country faces a dire economic crisis.
The economy is in distress as it currently has a total public debt stock of GH¢391.9 billion, as of the end of the first quarter of 2022.
The cedi is also the worst-performing African currency and has weakened 22 percent against the dollar this year.
