I Felt Disappointed When Government Opted For IMF Route – Kweku Baako

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Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has expressed misgivings about the decision of the government to turn to the International Monetary Fund, IMF, for an economic rescue programme.

The veteran journalist said he always felt disappointed whenever successive governments opt to approach the international lender in times of economic crisis. “I’ve always had difficulties with the IMF and let me the honest with you; while it is the right of the government to opt for that, I felt disappointed.

“I remember in 2015, I felt the same way even though I publicly said it was the right of the government to go for it but regrettable same with 2009,” he stated in an interview on Metro TV, July 7. Mr. Baako said it was unsettling that Ghana keeps returning to the Fund for assistance, exiting and within years walking back, a sign that the hard lessons required are not learnt.

“So, it is not good enough and we cannot continue going in circles and each time we take a programme, we appear to have succeeded in implementing the programme and within three to four years, we are back to square one, it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make you a proud Ghanaian,” he stressed.

Government on July 1, 2022, took the decision to begin formal engagements with IMF contrary to its earlier position of not returning to the Fund.

The decision has since divided public opinion.

If the engagement is successful, it will be the seventeenth time the country has returned to the Bretton Woods Institution for economic support.

Some reasons the government has consistently cited for which it made a U-turn on its earlier position on the IMF is the twin crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

By: ghanaweb.com