A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko says Ghana’s timing for seeking economic bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is right.

“You look at options and then it gets to a point where the options are narrowing and then you say I’m a member of the IMF, I’m in this situation, the money market is closed, Ghana can’t go and borrow at a rate that you may find sensible and if you’re not careful, the performance of your bond will continue to get bad and that puts extra burden on the tax payer and the poor,” Mr Otchere-Darko said.

“So really, you get to a point and you have to take a decision, a decision you know will be in the interest of the public and that is exactly what has happened. But you don’t rush, you’ll look at other options, fortunately, we didn’t wait to get to the situation of Sri Lanka, we are not there yet, but then you need to decide, are you going to wait for Fitch and MOODYS to come back and would the situation have been better by the time they come back? And what happens if they give you a credit rating and it goes lower, what will happen...So really you take a decision and I think the timing for me was right,” President Akufo-Addo’s cousin on his Accra-based Asaase Radio on Friday, 1 July 2022.

His justification comes after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo authorized Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to commence formal engagements with the IMF to help the country out of the current economic hardship.

A statement from the Information Ministry signed by sector Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the formal engagement is to invite the IMF to support an economic programme put together by the government of Ghana.

The decision to engage the IMF according to the statement has been fully supported by cabinet at a meeting on 30 June 2022.

“The engagement with the IMF will seek to provide balance of payment support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana’s build back in the face of challenges induced by the Covid-19 pandemic and, recently, the Russia-Ukraine crises,” the statement said.

The economy has been in rough waters for some time now.

Fuel prices keep rising, the cedi keeps depreciating, inflation keeps soaring, and the cost of goods and services and keep rising.

As of March 2022, Ghana’s total debt stock stood at GH¢391.9 billion.