Ghana\u2019s decision to exit the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program prematurely is more about optics than impact, according to Bright Simons, Vice President of policy think tank IMANI Africa.<\/p>\n
Speaking on\u00a0Joy News\u2019 PM Express Business Edition<\/em>\u00a0on April 24, he dismissed the move as \u201ca political strategy masquerading as economic management.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe IMF will do a victory lap dance, the government will join them. And then we will conclude by 2028, we will not be able to meet those targets,\u201d Bright Simons warned.<\/p>\n \u201cBut then by that time, we\u2019re not in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n He believes the government\u2019s early exit undermines any genuine commitment to achieving the fiscal targets set under the program.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question then becomes, do we need the program to get to the targets? Because the targets are still relevant,\u201d he said. \u201cI think at that time, the targets will not be relevant. They will not be relevant anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n The IMAN Veep accused both the IMF and the government of prioritising appearance over accountability.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve elevated the signalling above the facts,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the government will take advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n He argued that exiting the program strips away the very pressure and support needed to deliver reforms between 2026 and 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the IMF itself really wanted us to get to those targets, it should have encouraged the government when the government said we wanted to extend,\u201d Bright Simons noted.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause that is when it could have ensured that from 2026 to 2028, there are program levers that deliver those targets.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, he predicts that Ghana will use its newfound flexibility to seek financing elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have more flexibility to decide what to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they don\u2019t do the IMF program because they think they can get market access, which I think by that time they will get, then the IMF targets, the 70, 55% debt-to-GDP and those things, will not matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Citing examples from across the continent, Bright Simons pointed to Kenya and Nigeria as models the government might be trying to emulate.<\/p>\n \u201cKenya decided to terminate the program early and go borrow money from the Gulf \u2014 they got about $1.5 billion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNigeria decided not to go for an IMF program at all.\u201d<\/p>\n ut Bright Simons questioned whether Ghana\u2019s leadership has the political will or institutional strength to pursue meaningful reforms without external oversight.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an irrelevant discussion if you\u2019re not serious about hitting the targets. What matters is: are you reforming? And we don\u2019t see that hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n He stressed that despite the program\u2019s limited financing, especially compared to open market borrowing, its value lies in its credibility and discipline.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that the IMF program doesn\u2019t bring a lot of money is beside the point. It forces governments to make tough choices. That\u2019s where its strength lies.\u201d Bright Simons concluded with a stark warning: \u201cThis is politics over purpose. And we\u2019ve seen how that movie ends before.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ghana\u2019s decision to exit the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program prematurely is more about optics than impact, according to Bright Simons, Vice President of policy think tank IMANI Africa. Speaking on\u00a0Joy News\u2019 PM Express Business Edition\u00a0on April 24, he dismissed the move as \u201ca political strategy masquerading as economic management.\u201d \u201cThe IMF will do a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1722,3435,3434],"class_list":["post-10714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-bright-simons","tag-imf-exit","tag-vice-president-of-policy-think-tank-imani-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10714"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10716,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10714\/revisions\/10716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}