A respected economist, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, has voiced criticism against the Akufo-Addo administration, alleging mismanagement of COVID-19 funds.
He pointed out that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government unexpectedly experienced a boost in its financial standing, with Ghana seeing significant financial gains.
Dr. Thompson highlighted that Ghana received a $1 billion grant from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without conditions due to the pandemic.
During an interview with Channel One TV on Wednesday, June 19, Dr. Thompson noted that Ghana obtained an additional $1 billion from the IMF in 2021. This amount, however, was conspicuously absent from the Auditor General’s report on COVID-19 expenditures, suggesting a potential oversight.
Additionally, Dr. Moi Thompson disclosed that Ghana received a total of GHC27 billion in COVID-19-related funds.
Nevertheless, he criticized the government for allocating only 42% of this amount for direct COVID-19 expenses, leaving a significant portion unaccounted for.
“We turn to look at COVID-19 purely in economic terms, but it was a financial bonanza for the government. You may recall that they actually even said that they exceeded the revenue targets in 2020, despite what everyone else thinks. Even though, revenue went down in certain sectors… the ICT, the telcos and others, they boomed.”
“But, as a result of COVID-19, the IMF also gave us a billion dollars in cash in 2020, pretty much, no conditions attached. The significance of that is that in 2015 when we went to the IMF, they pledged, I think, $940 million spread over three years,” he said.