The Minority in Parliament has warned Ghanaians, especially the youth, to brace up for hard times as the programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Ghana kicks in.
According to the Minority, the Akufo-Addo-led government, for instance, proposed to the IMF to increase utility tariffs every three months in order to secure the extended credit facility (ECF).
“So far, since September 2022, electricity tariff have gone up by a cumulative figure of 75.32% (27% in September 2022, 29.96% in the last quarter of 2022 and 18.36% a few days ago,” Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson said in a statement on Thursday, May 18.
“Let us brace ourselves for the full consequences of this IMF deal, which will without doubt bite hard on Ghanaians, especially the youth.”
It added: “This is not a counsel of despair, but a reality that will soon dawn on all of us.”
The Minority says it will address Ghanaians in the coming days by making the content of the IMF Executive Board’s report known to all in order for all to know the true state of the economy.
It said the country would have been at a more comfortable state if government had heeded to the Minority’s counsel to go to the IMF in 2021.
But the caucus said the current approach is like a patient in an emergency ambulance who arrives at the doorstep of IMF, desperate for immediate resuscitation.
After government approached the IMF in July, 2022, the request was approved on Wednesday, May 17.
The first tranche of $600 million is expected within a week.
