We might be forced to go IMF if internal revenue generation measures fail – Dep. Finance Minister

He said they will be left with no option if the recent measures to restore investor confidence fails.

Speaking in an interview in Accra, John Kumah said: “If it [bringing the economy back to life] becomes impossible, then it is the only alternative to salvage our economy. But where we are now, we think we are in the position to salvage the economy or to try the homegrown policy we are adopting”.

“If our programmes fail us and we are not able to get the confidence and the results in the fiscal space discipline, which we have to impose on ourselves, then we don’t have a choice”, the Deputy Finance Minister stressed.

According to him, going to the IMF is not about politics, but for COVID-19, there will not be any need for talking about going to the IMF for a programme.

“It is not about politics when it comes to the economy. But for COVID-19, there is no way we should be discussing IMF by this time”, he explained.

“When President Akufo Addo picked this economy and started growing it with an average of 7%, we saw how the economy was doing so well”, he explained.

John Kumah in a recent interview defended the government’s decision to prioritize the building of a National Cathedral.

He said the Akufo-Addo government is ready to account to Ghanaians on the expenditure of the project because it has nothing to hide.

Deputy-Finance-Minister-John-Kumah Deputy-Finance-Minister-John-Kumah Pulse Ghana

Speaking on Citi FM in Accra, John Kumah said the National Cathedral is a priority for the government.

“If you file parliamentary questions, you wait in Parliament for the answers and not rush to the media as he [Ablakwa] has done. He also speaks about a scandal. What is scandalous about making legitimate payments? We are prepared to answer any questions they may have.”

“I don’t agree with him that the seed money which we have provided for and informed the nation about towards the contribution of the National Cathedral is scandalous. A scandal is what we witnessed when his government decided to pay Woyome millions of dollars when they didn’t even have a contract with government. We have set our priority, which is the building of a Cathedral for the nation, and it is going to be a national monument for the country,” he added.