Ghanaians speak up about IMF option and matters arising

According to the Ministry of Finance, the IMF support will provide “balance of payment support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana’s build back in the face of challenges by the Covid-19 pandemic and recently, the Russian Ukraine crises”.

This triggered a number of Ghanaians who have been commenting on the issue for some time now.

GBC news visited some parts of Accra to get the views of some of the Ghanaians on the IMF move by the government.

Most of them who made a comments classified the decision as “wrong”.

According to them, previous engagements with the IMF by the Ghana Government to stabilize the economy has yielded no good.

“This is not the first or second time we are going to the imf as a nation. What happened to that? And what shows this time we’ll sustain it? They’re just about to increase the burden on the poor Ghanaian citizens” one person said

“…As much as Ghana is in debt, I don’t think going to IMF is the answer, what happened to the Covid funds, Why shouldn’t we use the cathedral money to solve a quarter of our problems” another person added.

They were convinced that the money after negotiations with the IMF would be misused by ‘corrupt’ officials in the government.

“What Job is the government creating for the youth, where is it? People have degrees and masters but end up hawking on the road, Ghana has become who you know, most hospitals are in their bad state people are dying, and equipment is obsolete, yet you want to build a cathedral for what exactly, upon the numerous churches in Ghana. A few months ago flood destroyed people’s lives and many others. I feel it won’t serve its purpose and some higher-ups will get a percentage of the money” – another said.

“The money will never serve it purpose, this government have acquired more revenue then any other government but there have nothing to show for” one person said.

The citizens advised the government to forgo the building of the cathedral and channel funds into the construction of more factories. They noted that for the country to be self reliant, leaders must have the country at heart.

“For us to be buoyant we need a government that really has the nation and it’s people at heart or else governments will come and go and we’ll still remain like this” another said.

“We must first stop building the cathedral and start building factories. We should start producing more, this will make us less dependent on imported goods.”

“We should start producing some of the things we import! It might help” another said.