Nkonkonsa Celebrity Gossip From Africa
The trade and industry minister, Alan Kyerematen, asserts that the IMF cannot create prosperity on its own.
Alan Kyeremanteng said that the IMF supports liquidity, balance of payments, and stability.
Mr. Kyerematen made this statement during a meeting with a group of investors and business owners on July 4 in Accra,
He remarked, “Those of us who campaigned with the President [in 2016] came a long way under extremely difficult circumstances. Static growth, high inflation, and huge debt were all signs of a troubled economy. But we did something we haven’t articulated well.
When NPP took office, Ghana was in an IMF program. We had to finish the program. While we decided to finish, our strategic goal was to quit because there was no proof that the IMF and its programs could promote prosperity. So IMF helps with stabilization, the balance of payment, and liquidity.
While we promised to stay with the program, we worked to leave it. Within two years, we met all the conditionalities and requirements for the programs and were about to exit with our chests out.
“I remember Christine Lagarde [then IMF Managing Director] applauding us while we were leaving. While we agreed to stay to the goal through fiscal consolidation and judicious expenditure management and control, we also resolved to launch an aggressive transformation initiative.
“While we were ensuring fiscal consolidation with the IMF programme, we needed a lot of courage to embark on a transformation programme because, if the transformation does not occur, you will go back to IMF, and the transformation programme requires a lot of money.
“Transformation is impossible without finances, thus we had to borrow to support our simultaneous transformation goal. Agricultural transformation, Planting for food and jobs, planting for export rural development, highly comprehensive 10-point roadmap for transformation.”
