The administration has come under fire for attending the Group of Seven (G7) African Finance Ministers meeting with the World Bank/International Monetary Fund, IMF, in Washington, according to Dr. John Kwabena Kwakye, Senior Economist and Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).
The government delegation from the Finance Ministry was led by Ken Ofori-Atta, who made a suggestion that they would remain beyond the conference to complete Ghana’s negotiations with the Fund.
According to him, the team extending their time will enable them to make some fair decisions.
“We still are working through and as you know we are staying beyond the Fund, the World Bank meetings through, maybe, the 20th, so we will continue with the Mission and the work. We pray that that may give us enough time to be able to come to some fair decisions on the outlook.
“I can tell you that the Fund staff is very motivated, which is good and we are 24/7, so the combination of their own enthusiasm, our clarity on the work that has been done to fulfil the President’s promise. If you look at the turnout of discussion for this annual meeting clearly, the world is recognizing that something different has to be done,” Ken Ofori-Atta said as quoted by Accra-based 3news.
But Dr. Kwakye is of the view that staying longer in Washington DC would not solve the current economic problems the country is facing.
He said, the long stay in the States will only make our economic situation uncertain and panic in the markets will prevail.
“Our policymakers need to be reminded that the solution to our economic crisis lies here at home and not in Washington. The more they look up to Washington, the longer the uncertainty and panic in the markets will prevail,” Dr. John K. Kwakye tweeted.
The G7 is made of an informal grouping of seven of the world’s advanced economies; namely: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America and European Union.
This group invited finance ministers from South Africa, Senegal, Togo, Zambia, Ghana, Guinea, Rwanda, Chad, Tunisia and Morocco for the all-important meeting.
The meeting with the African Financial Ministers brings together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.