Policy think tank, the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), has criticised the government’s decision to enter a new IMF Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) arrangement, warning that Ghana risks outsourcing its economic sovereignty to external institutions.
Speaking on The Point of View on Monday, May 18, an economist with the Centre, Dr. Adamu Abille, argued that Ghana’s recent macroeconomic stability was driven more by domestic resource mobilisation efforts than by the IMF programme itself.
According to him, initiatives such as gold reserve accumulation and stronger foreign exchange management played a bigger role in stabilising the economy than the IMF’s $3 billion Extended Credit Facility programme.
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“It is not necessarily the IMF programme that brought us here,” he argued.
He criticised suggestions that the PCI would improve Ghana’s credibility with investors and ratings agencies, describing it instead as evidence of an unhealthy appetite for borrowing.
“When you talk about giving us policy credibility so that we have market confidence to go back and borrow, ISODEC has a serious objection to that,” he stressed.
The economist further argued that Ghana must adopt a more resource-nationalist development strategy centred on domestic ownership of strategic sectors, particularly mining and gold resources.
He also questioned the assumption that Ghana lacks the capacity to independently manage its economy.
“We are trying to outsource our policy sovereignty to Washington,” Dr. Abille warned.
Government, however, insists the PCI is strictly a technical and monitoring arrangement aimed at preserving fiscal discipline and preventing future economic slippages after Ghana’s exit from the IMF bailout programme.
Source. CNR
