IMF bailout: Economist support IMF’s call for fiscal prudence in election year

Economic watchers have backed the calls for caution from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Ghana ought to control its spending to avoid fiscal slippages as the country heads into the December 7 elections.

This comes after Ghana secured the IMF Board’s approval of the second review of the $3 billion programme.

The approval allows for the immediate release of $360 million to Ghana and brings the total disbursements to $1.56 billion.

Citi Business News has learnt that processing for the third tranche to be credited to the Bank of Ghana’s account has already commenced and that the funds will soon hit the government’s coffers on Monday, July 1.

Head of Data Science and Economic Policy at the University of Cape Coast Professor William Brafu-Insaidoo in an interview with Citi Business News noted that the government must be prudent going forward.

“We all know what goes on during election years, trying to please the electorate, trying to just pump money out there just so somebody would forget about his or her worries in a transitory moment and just vote for you.

“We all know of all of these things, so we have to find a way to impose a check on some of these happenings. How are we going to ensure that the voters themselves don’t open themselves up?” Prof. Brafu-Insaidoo noted.

Source: citinewsroom.com

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