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A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party(NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has responded to critics who are 'attacking' President Akufo-Addo following government's decision to seek an IMF bailout.

It may be recalled that in the buildup to the 2016 election, President Akufo-Addo panned the then NDC administration for going for an IMF bailout.

"For the first time in history, an oil-rich country, some five years into oil production, is seeking a bailout from the IMF” he tweeted.

However, this comment seems to have come back to bite the President as he has asked the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to officially write to the IMF for help.

Political pundits believe since he was against the NDC going to the IMF, he had no justification to also go back there. Others believe he deceived Ghanaians as he promised to achieve a “Ghana beyond aid”. 

Responding to this in an interview on Joy Newsfile programme, Gabby queried "what was the context in which that statement was made"

"Inflation has gone up…around this time in 2014 we were queuing in Ghana for fuel. We went into IMF when there was no global crisis so it is quite different from the situation we have now...nobody can deny the fact that we were hit in the first quarter of 2020 by a pandemic that the world did not expect. Since then nobody thought that the crisis of grain, maize, crude oil, and all that will go where they are because of the war in Ukraine and a combination of these factors actually has the whole world under pressure; the struggle is global..." he said.

"We can't say that Akufo-Addo made those comments in 2016 (so) those comments should guide his decision today," he added.

Background

President Akufo-Addo on July 1 ordered Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to begin formal engagements with the IMF.

In a statement signed by Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the engagement will be to invite the Fund to support an economic program put together by government.

“The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has authorised Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to commence formal engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), inviting the Fund to Support an economic program put together by the Government of Ghana,” the statement said.

Among other things, the government says 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 induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and recently, the Russia-Ukraine crisis.”