'Akufo-Addo has passed the begging bowl to IMF' - Prof. Steve Hanke

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Renowned Johns Hopkins University economist, Professor Steve Hanke, has again criticized the Akufo-Addo-led administration’s resort to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance amid a challenging economic time.

In a post shared on

Read full articleTwitter, Professor Steve Hanke asserted that the current IMF programme which the country hopes to benefit from will fail like previous ones.

According to him, President Akufo-Addo’s pass of the 'begging bowl to IMF' will not yield any results adding that the country’s inflation stood at 50% year on year contrary to the data from the Ghana Statistical Service which puts it at nearing 30%.

Professor Steve Hanke was commenting on the postponement of the mid-year budget review which was to be presented on July 13 but rescheduled to July 27.

“Pres. Akufo-Addo passes the begging bowl to the IMF. Ghana has even postponed its mid-term budget review in hopes of ANOTHER IMF loan. SPOILER ALERT: Like GHA's past 17 IMF programs, a new program won't work. Today, I measure Ghana's inflation at 50%/yr,” he tweeted.

Pres. Akufo-Addo passes the begging bowl to the IMF. Ghana has even postponed its mid-term budget review in hopes of ANOTHER IMF loan. SPOILER ALERT: Like GHA's past 17 IMF programs, a new program won't work. Today, I measure Ghana's inflation at 50%/yr.https://t.co/zrbezih88a

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) July 12, 2022

It would not be the first time Professor Steve Hanke has painted a gloomy picture of Ghana’s economic indicators.

The 79-year-old economist recently described Ghana's inflation status as terrible.

In addition, he has also described the Ghanaian cedi as a ‘central bank junk currency’ - simply meaning its value is unreliable on both the international and domestic markets.

Background

It will be recalled that government hitherto used to borrow from the Eurobond market however unfavorable economic conditions has compelled it to initiate contacts with IMF on the orders of President Akufo-Addo to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

It is the hope of government that through this approach, confidence from lenders will bounce back.

Consequently, the IMF arrived in Ghana from July 6-13 to begin initial discussions on the programme government intends to subscribe to.

The team has concluded its visit and has recommitted to helping the country to restore macroeconomic stability, safeguard debt sustainability, promote inclusive and sustainable growth, and address the impact of the war in Ukraine and the lingering pandemic.

DS/MA