IMF programme won’t affect Free SHS, School Feeding progs – MoF
The government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Finance, has said social intervention programmes like Free SHS, School Feeding and Agenda 111 will not be affected by any IMF engagement.
IMF bailouts come with conditionalities.
Ghana’s recent resort to the Fund for a bailout has sparked fears among some Ghanaians that it could force the government to suspend some of its key flagship programmes.
But the Finance Ministry, in a statement, explained that IMF programmes are flexible and respond to evolving circumstances.
It said the IMF encourages governments in their programme design to protect the poor or vulnerable groups from the impact of fiscal adjustment.
“Free SHS, and the School Feeding programme, among others, are good social intervention programmes and it is the lack of financing, and unsustainable debt burdens that could constrain a government's ability to maintain its level of spending, including social or investment spending,” the statement said.
It explained that in Ghana’s situation, the IMF may ask the government to consider curtailing lower priority or non-productive spending (such as "white elephant" projects), as part of its fiscal adjustment but to preserve priority social spending, including on health and education.
“The objectives are typically aimed at providing a social safety net for the poor and ensuring that investment spending boosts the economy at a critical time,” the statement noted.
It disclosed that the government, in its Enhanced Domestic Programme, has started a review of these programmes to see how best they can be optimised and become more efficient.
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