Dr Mark Assibey Yeboah, a former New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for New Juaben South, has advised the government to consider going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for economic support.
According to him, the finance minister should, as a matter of urgency “place a call to the IMF to help the government” rescue the struggling economy.
Speaking to Citi FM, Dr Assibey Yeboah said, “without a doubt, I think we should be placing a call to Washington if we haven’t really done that. We are just not going to ask for the funds just because E-Levy has been passed or not. E-Levy will just bring about GHC5 billion. We are in a deep hole of our tax revenue and facing difficulties, so going to the fund will give us some support.”
“So, there is nothing wrong with going to the fund. Ghana is a member of the IMF so what is wrong going to ask for support when we are in difficulties to go and pool resources. If I was the finance minister, I will be convincing the President that it is about time we went back,” Yeboah, a one-time chair of the Finance Committee of Parliament said.
He maintains that going to the IMF will give the Ghanaian economy some sort of stability.
“The GHC6.9 billion target cannot be realized. There are a lot of exemptions so, in my estimation, the maximum amount we can get from the E-levy is GH¢5 billion, and that is less than a billion dollars, so I do not think that the E-levy is going to be a panacea to our revenues. Going to the IMF will ensure some stability and above all, we are going to get some $3 billion”.
Returning to IMF disastrous
Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance, says returning to the International Monetary Fund would not augur well for Ghana.
Speaking at the government’s town-hall meeting to discuss the E-Levy on Thursday (27 January 2022), the minister said the passage of the E-Levy will save the country from falling back on the IMF for financial assistance, which, he said, would be disastrous.
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