2023 budget likely to delay due to IMF talks – Majority Leader

The 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy may delay due to talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout, the Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has revealed.

The Budget statement was scheduled to be read on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, November 15, as stipulated by the Public Financial Act, but according to the Majority Leader, that is likely to be rescheduled due to ongoing discussions with the Bretton Woods Institution.

“I am not sure exactly when, I still need to have some discussions with the Minister responsible for Finance to determine exactly when he will be able to submit the document to us…The discussions that are going on with the IMF, I think it is going to take a while,” the Majority Leader told journalists on Thursday.

Ghana is expecting to receive $3 billion over three years from the International Monetary Fund if an agreement on a program is reached.

Bloomberg reported that the loan requested was double the amount of $1.5 billion that Ghana had earlier requested.

On July 1, the Ghana government announced a u-turn of an initial decision of not resorting to the IMF for support despite economic hardship hitting the citizenry.

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Consequently, a team from the IMF arrived in Ghana to start negotiations with the Ghana government. The government has since maintained to secure a good deal for the country.

Prices of fuel goods and services have spiraled out of control in the last few months in the country, which has led to a high cost of living for the majority of Ghanaians.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in an address to the nation on Sunday admitted that Ghana’s economy is in crisis.

He attributed the situation to “so many malevolent forces” which he said have come together at the same time to cause the current economic turmoil bedeviling the country.

“We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time.”

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Source:citinewsroom.com