Majority MPs call off demands for sacking of Finance Minister
Some members of the Majority Caucus in Parliament who called on President Akufo-Addo to fire the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta without any “further delay” have called off their demand.
The members, numbering about 80, also asked the President to sack Charles Adu Boahen, a Minister of State in the Finance Ministry.
The MPs said their demand is to restore hope in the financial sector and reverse the downward trend of the economy.
The MPs however, called off the demands until an ongoing negotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support to the country’s economy is completed.
The MPs from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) said in a statement on Wednesday October 26, 2022 that President Akufo-Addo told them “their demands would be acted upon” after the upcoming 2023 budget reading and finalization of IMF negotiations.
Ofori-Atta had earlier rejected any possibility of going back to the IMF after hurriedly ending an ongoing programme signed onto by the previous government in 2015.
But the country’s economy has been in bad shape. Public debt has been rising beyond sustainable levels. The debt as at March 2022, had exceeded 80 per cent, according to the Bank of Ghana. The public debt has increased to 80.1 per cent of GDP.
Provisional data from the central bank on budget execution for 2021 indicated an overall broad fiscal deficit (cash, excluding financial sector clean-up costs) of 9.7 per cent of GDP, against the programmed target of 9.4 per cent of GDP.
The Bank noted that the corresponding primary balance for the period was a deficit of GH¢8.9 billion (2.0 per cent of GDP), against a deficit target of GH¢8.7 billion (2.0 per cent of GDP).
The inflation rate for the month of September rose to an all-time high of 37.2 per cent, driven largely by food prices, while the currency, the cedi has depreciated against the US dollar so much, making it the worst performing currency in the world, and all major Rating Agencies have rated the country’s economy to junk status because it’s in no position to repay its accumulated debts.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
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