Coronavirus: Countries that exited IMF may go back according to a former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper

Mr Terkper who is currently a consultant at the IMF said the coronavirus pandemic has a negative effect on the global economy and this may force some countries that had left the IMF to return to ask for help.

Ghana exited the IMF in 2019 after the Akufo-Addo administration. At the time of the exit, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said Ghana won’t go back to the institution because sufficient macroeconomic gains have been made.

“The expectation of all of this is that we are consistently on top of the macroeconomics of the country, and making sure that we work within the budget Parliament will have approved.”

“In addition to that, we have set up the Economic Planning and Coordinating Council so we don’t have any slippages in the macro and fiscal policies. We feel good about where we are,” he added in an interview with the B&FT.

He said Ghana’s gains have led to a rising and broad-based GDP growth momentum, with the economy growing by 6.1% (end Q3 2018 average); 8.1% in 2017; and 3.4% in 2016.

Mr Ofori-Atta explained that Ghana went to the IMF in 2012 before the general elections because the country recorded a deficit of 11.5% of GDP – the highest deficit on record in the fourth republic – with the IMF calling for urgent measures to restore macroeconomic stability.

But Mr Terkper under whose watch Ghana went to the IMF, said on Metro TV that “We may see some of these countries going back to the IMF if the coronavirus continues.”

He added that Ghana needs to “Build our own basket through the petroleum revenue. That is the only way we can be a truly middle-income country.”