IMF Bailout: ‘Bawumia’s Blame-Shifting Comical And Ridiculous’ – Mahama

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Former President John Mahama has observed that Ghana’s economic hardship “persists and is set to remain for an extended period”, noting: “Amid this gloomy outlook, those responsible for the mess refuse to exhibit contrition and sobriety”.

“One of the key architects of the failed policies and mismanagement that have led to our economic downfall and suffering, found it necessary a couple of days ago, to put up a public display that verged on the ridiculous and comical”, Mr Mahama said when he addressed the minority caucus at a workshop in the Volta Region on Sunday, 17 July 2022.

“In a government where honour and responsibility are respected, the Chair of the Economic Management Team that has thrust us into this crisis would have stepped down or dismissed”, he noted.

“In fact”, he said, “the very idea that this government has requested for an IMF programme would have been sufficient reason for him to go, in view of all the unenlightened propaganda he dabbled in against our IMF programme of 2015”.

Rather, he noted, Dr Bawumia “has chosen to show a gaping deficit in leadership attributes by making untenable excuses and seeking to shift blame onto the government that left power almost six years ago and which had no role to play in the poor policy choices that have delivered these disastrous outcomes”.

Speaking at the launch of two new high-level information technology programmes at the Accra Business School on, Thursday, 14 July 2022, Dr Bawumia blamed the Mahama administration, partly, for the Akufo-Addo government’s resort to the IMF for a bailout.

“In fact”, the Vice-President noted, “As I stated in my April 7th lecture, in addition to COVID-19, there were two major items of expenditure that are critical to understanding the evolution of the fiscal deficit and the debt stock: the Banking Sector Clean up (GHC 25 billion) and the Energy Sector Excess Capacity payments (GHC 17 billion)”.

The excess capacity payments of GHC 17 billion, he explained, “relate to a legacy of take-or-pay contracts that saddled our economy with annual excess capacity charges of close to $1 billion”.

“These were, basically, contracts to supply energy to Ghana way in excess of our requirements, but we were obligated to pay for the power whether we use it or not”, Dr Bawumia noted.

The excess capacity payments, he pointed out, “include GH¢7 billion of payments for gas resulting from the previous government signing an offtake agreement for a fixed quantity of gas with ENI Sankofa on a take or pay basis which was way in excess of what was needed at the time. Not keeping up with the excess capacity payments would have meant throwing the country back into a new bout of dumsor”.

Additionally, he said: “We were also confronted with a banking crisis as a result of the mismanagement of the banking sector. Ghana’s banking system was on the verge of collapse and not dealing decisively with it would have meant disaster for the economy with millions of people losing their savings”.

Also, he said, “direct COVID-19 expenditure amounted to GH¢12.0 billion, made up of GH¢8.1 billion in 2020 and GH¢3.9billion in 2021”.

The data, Dr Bawumia explained, “shows that the three items of expenditure cumulatively amounted to GH¢54.0 billion (the equivalent of some $7.0 billion), which was borrowed. The Ministry of Finance estimates that the interest payment on this borrowing for the three items amounts to GH¢8.5 billion annually”.

By: ghanaweb.com