Following an earlier disclosure by Ghana’s new government that 7 billion cedi ($1.6 billion) in expenses were unaccounted for by the previous administration, the nation’s finance chief has said that the debt bailout program with the International Monetary Fund may need a bit of “tweakingâ€.
Speaking to journalist in the country’s capital, Accra yesterday, Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta, said currently the government was in negotiations with the IMF and will seek to finalize an audit of the undisclosed spending by 15th February. Adding that it will determine how it intends to raise funds for the shortfall once the financing gap is ascertained.
“By the end of the IMF visit, the process of discovery and certainty and validation would have gone a long way,†The task is a lot more than we anticipated with regards to the arrearsâ€, he said.
The President Nana Akufo-Addo-led administration disclosed that the discovery of the arrears would push Ghana’s budget deficit for 2016 to “double digitsâ€.
Both IMF and the government of Ghana are in an on-going discussion over a $918 million three-year credit deal signed in 2015 after spending escalated and revenue from commodities such as oil and gold dropped drastically as a result of plummeting prices of those items globally.
In conclusion, the Finance minister also that government is equally in talks with China Development Bank Corporation about the nation’s financing needs.
In his own words, “We’re meeting for a second time with the Chinese Embassy†on Monday, he said. “We’re trying to nail down and look at an enhanced relationship with China to see how they can support the direction in which we’re now goingâ€.
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