Deputy Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is accusing the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of assuming the role of spokespersons for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and putting up like the IMF is an inept organisation.
According to him, the IMF is a body that can handle its own affairs and wonders why the NPP should organized a press conference to speak on its behalf.
�They are rather appearing to be acting like spokespersons for the IMF saying that there is an agreement we have with the IMF, which does not allow us to go for this facility (loan). Very interesting�we have a political party in this country; instead of deciding to be with Ghanaians they will choose to be on the side of the IMF and act like their spokesperson saying there is an agreement with the IMF so don�t breach it�,� he said in relation to concerns of a borrowing cap agreed to by the IMF and Ghana and which the NPP claims the NDC government has flouted.
The NPP Minority in Parliament, at a press conference on Tuesday, September 27, addressed by its Spokesperson on Finance, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, accused the Mills-led NDC administration of failing to take cognizance of an 800 million Dollar-limitation on government borrowing as agreed between the Government of Ghana and the IMF.
But President Mills, in an interaction with a section of the media upon arriving from the 66th UN General Assembly, raised doubts about the claims by the Minority, saying he is unaware of any agreement with the IMF that restricts Ghana on the amount of loans it can access in a year.
"I am surprised that people are putting a spin on this. They [IMF & World Bank] are very supportive. They know we need the assistance for infrastructure development. I haven�t spoken to the Minister of Finance, who would be the best person to sign such an agreement, I really don�t know their (Minority) source, so I cannot firm, or even deny�.if there was any such development, it would have been brought to my knowledge,� President Mills said.
However, the Minority insists a �Letter of Intent, Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, and Technical Memorandum of Understanding� dated May 12, 2011 and signed between the IMF and the Republic of Ghana has exposed President Mills� lack of knowledge of what his government agrees to with donor agencies and countries.
Page 17, Section D of the document, titled �Public Debt Management� expressly states that �In 2011, commercial borrowing will not exceed $800 million.�
According to the Minority, after this agreement was signed and conditionalities agreed to by the Minister of Finance, Kwabena Duffuor, and Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur in May 2011, Ghana then went to the Chinese to sign up for the $3 billion commercial loan facility in August the same year, knowing fully well they could not borrow above $800 million in 2011.
But speaking in an interview with Suhini Alhassan on Radio Gold, the Deputy Information Minister was emphatic that neither the NDC nor for that matter the Mills� administration, has violated any law.
��I don�t know when the IMF became a constitutional entity, an entity of the Ghanaian constitution. I do not know which provision in the Ghanaian constitution stipulates that if you have such an agreement with the IMF, you cannot breach it� The IMF does not need the NPP or any other entity outside the IMF to tell them of their own workings�it will be really alluding a lot of incompetence on the part of the IMF�if you look at all of the issues that are being raised; they are red herring�there is no breach, there is no violation�It is therefore surprising that you have a Ghanaian political party which should have known that sovereignty is with the people of Ghana�.,� Okudzeto Ablakwa said.
Source: Rebecca Quaye/Peacefmonline.com
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