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The pill is bitter for the government of Ghana. President Nana Akufo-Addo had to announce the 1er July that the country would again seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a few days after new demonstrations organized in Accra, the capital, against the high cost of living. The institution immediately accepted the request and dispatched a delegation to the country.
” The IMF stands ready to help Ghana restore macroeconomic stability, preserve debt sustainability, and promote inclusive and sustainable growth. the IMF said in a statement, as well as coping with the impact of the war in Ukraine and the lingering pandemic. “And to conclude:” We look forward to our engagement with the authorities in Accra. »
At the Jubilee House, the presidential palace, the atmosphere is not festive. It must be said that for six years, the doctrine “Ghana Beyond Aid” was one of the pillars of the electoral rhetoric of Nana Akufo-Addo, who had made it the emblem of national sovereignty. The eponymous program, launched in 2018 and intended to wean the country, a major exporter of cocoa, gold and oil, from international aid, seemed to be bearing fruit.
In 2019, the president had ended with great fanfare the agreement signed with the IMF by his predecessor John Mahama – a loan of around one billion dollars in return for a budgetary austerity plan – and solemnly promised that the country had finally obtained its economic independence. An emancipation from the assistance of the rich countries which had earned the Ghanaian head of state a certain aura on the continental scene.
Soaring inflation
This was counting without the successive crises of Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, the repercussions of which have shaken all West African economies. The debt continues to grow and now reaches 78% of gross domestic product (GDP) against 62.5% five years ago. At the same time, inflation soared in May to more than 27%, unheard of for eighteen years.
The government has tried in recent months to beef up its tax policy, with the introduction of the highly controversial E-levy tax on electronic transactions, and to reduce public spending, in particular by reducing the number of ministers, without much success. . Anxious to regain access to the international financial markets from which it was brutally excluded, the country was cornered, but the blow was hard. It’s the 17e time of its history that Ghana is calling on the IMF for help.
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