Ghana Meets IMF at Economic Crossroads

The Anchor, after a lengthy ponders over Ghana’s current microeconomic structure that affects ordinary people’s wellbeing on the street, found it where it’s run assumed ‘mad horse motion’ and had to alert its riders who care to know and maybe, ready themselves for either its betterment or worse; this was stated in our editorial comment of the issue number 045/22 Thursday June 23 to Monday June 27, 2022 edition.

Yes; the paper found national economic juggernaut ‘driving itself to ‘a precipice of a sort’ and, by trusting the litany of government voices castigating the real monstrousness of the Bretton woods, especially the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before assuming power, earlier in power and even continued till recent times – where the pool of debts drowning Ghanaians was suddenly seen at neck-level and, put shivers in spines, prayed for ‘only the Redeemer’s own intervention as a bet’.

The paper indeed, doesn’t see any one individual, organization or a nation like an island, especially so, in what we find ourselves in today and called the “global village” where, though, as individuals, we ought to stand firm as one another’s keeper. This is so, because none lives by might, but by grace.

The Anchor recalls how two weeks ago,The Bloomberg’s warning of Ghana facing imminent fuel shortage as well as acute scarcity, at the nation’s central bank rationing of dollar “after oil prices surged, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”, was received – amidst official consternation and opposition degustation. But the issue of yeoman’s kenkey and fish, has since time of yore, never received favoritism of political do-me-I-do-you, right?

The paper was of the view, however, that now that Ghana’s economic issue has gone farther than only the fuel shortage rightly predicted by the Bloomberg; to our dismay, forcing His Excellency the President, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo after that sleepless night, to tilt back the hitherto, stiff-neck of his brother the Finance Minister,Kenneth Nana Yaw Kuntukununku Ofori-Atta to the IMF, something reassuring must be in the pipeline.

The paper concedes also that the IMF has never been a charity organization, let alone being the Santa Claus, who would dole out money without stiff terms and conditions, to prevent frivolity and recklessness in dissipation; that is where our fear lies. But Ghanaians are also in hurry and, in hunger’s anger against a government they had loved so much, having.

It should be our taboo listening to replays of variant voices against the ‘innocent’ IMF who only displays its products to serve those indeed, in need; churned out in political mayfairing at unguided juicy times.

Making them, the IMF and indeed, the World Bank, had a compromise of fixed-but-adjustable rates settled upon, in whichwhereas member nations would peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar, and to ensure the rest of the world that its currency was dependable, the U.S. would peg the dollar to gold, at a price of $35 an ounce. Member nations would buy or sell dollars in order to keep within a 1% band of the fixed-rate and could adjust this rate only in the case of a “fundamental disequilibrium” in the balance of payments.

One doesn’t care run approaching their table of beggar’s mind of equity,because, it is in order to ensure compliance with their rules, that the two international institutions were created: the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD; later known as the World Bank). Their new rules were officially outlined in the IMF Articles of Agreement. Further provisions of the Articles stipulated that current account restrictions would be lifted while capital controls were allowed, in order to avoid destabilizing capital flows.

What the Articles failed to provide, however, were effective sanctions on chronic balance-of-payments surplus countries, a concise definition of “fundamental disequilibrium,” and a new international currency (a Keynes proposal) to augment the supply of gold as an extra source of liquidity. Further, there was no definitive timeline for implementing the new rules, so it would be close to 15 years before the Bretton Woods system was actually in full operation.

By this time, the system was already showing signs of instability. But that hasn’t been our case. Our case is Ghana needs money and we need it badly for our survival, maybe in the next three month or…

Today, Ghana finds itself at economy crossroads and truly believes the over-castigated IMF can be a good savior; a necessary evil of a kind.

The Anchor, believes the IMF, full of diplomacy, would shut its heart to retribution of a goofed politicking and attend to our case, favorably.

The only thing the paper would even assist the IMF to do and do well, well, without fear or and favour, is scrutinizing well, our tastes for opulence and showmanship in spending without decorum; and in a nature of coat sizes bigger than our cloth; not crafty-tongues that would often attempt at alum’s purification of already muddied waters.

In that case, the paper strongly trusts the IMF and Ghana would be more than ready to meet at the nation’s current economic crossroads; the aftermath belt-tightening on already bloated stomachs could then become our bane.

Source: theanchorghana