By John Ikani
The Vice President of Ghana, Mahamudu Bawumia has warned citizens of tough times ahead as the West African nation seeks an IMF bailout amid a spiking inflation that hit 29.8% in June.
Bawumia issued the warning after an IMF staff mission concluded a visit to the country on Wednesday to assess the country’s economic situation and discuss the aid package.
It would be recalled that Hundreds took to the streets of Ghana’s capital Accra last month to protest against high inflation, weak growth and a deteriorating local currency. Days later, four of Ghana’s largest teachers unions said they would strike if their wages weren’t increased in tandem with rising prices.
After pledging not to seek help from the IMF, the government said shortly after the protests that it would seek an economic support package to ward off a “fully blown crisis”.
The government has blamed its woes on a combination of external forces including COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, as well as American and Chinese economic downturns.
“While we hope for a quick end to the [Ukraine] war, we must understand that things could get worse before they get better. We have to steel ourselves for that,” Mr Bawumia told journalists.
“The immediate task is to restore fiscal and debt sustainability and this will be through revenue and expenditure measures and structural reforms.”
