On Monday, May 6, 2024, Crystal Palace scored four goals against its opponent, Manchester United, ending the game at 4-0. While many are disappointed in the latter’s performance, others are calling for the dismissal of the coach, Ten Hag.
Lamenting the poor performance, the Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), John Kwakye, has drawn a striking comparison between the management of Ghana’s economy and the beleaguered football club, Manchester United.
According to him, the managers of both the local economy and Manchester United seem clueless in addressing the problems confronting them.
In a post on X sighted by GhanaWeb Business, the IEA boss stated,
“It seems to me that the managers of Ghana’s economy are like the managers of Manchester United. Both seem clueless in addressing the problems confronting them, although the solutions are far from rocket science.”
His remark coincides with a period of significant economic challenges for the nation, marked by the departure of multinational corporations due to high taxes, a power crisis, the depreciation of the local currency (the Cedi) against major currencies, rising fuel prices and transportation fares, a high cost of living, and other issues.
As part of efforts to address high inflation, the government announced on July 1, 2022, its intention to seek a $3 billion financial bailout program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Following this announcement, a team from the IMF visited the country from July 6 to July 13, 2022, to engage with Ghanaian authorities regarding a potential economic support program.
In December 2022, a staff-level agreement was reached between the Government of Ghana and the IMF.
On May 17, 2023, the IMF’s executive board approved Ghana’s $3 billion loan.
The first installment of $600 million was received by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on Friday, May 19, 2023.
The primary goal of the IMF program, as outlined by the government, is to restore macroeconomic stability and ensure debt sustainability, among other objectives.