Three year IMF program to begin January 2015 


A Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mrs Mona Hellen Quartey, has reiterated that government was seeking to engage the International Monitory Fund (IMF) in using its home grown programs and the consensus reached at Senchi to hopefully culminate in a three year IMF program beginning January 2015.

“This would enable Ghana benefit from technical assistance as well as balance of payments to stabilize the macro economy while implementing interventions to address the structural challenges of the economy”, she explained.

Mrs Quartey said these at a workshop organised by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to among other things enable professional bodies, organisations and stakeholders who had submitted inputs towards the preparation of the 2015 budget to explain their inputs.

The Deputy Minster said the issuing of the third Eurobond of $1 billion and the success of the COCOBOD syndicated loan of $1.7 billion had helped reduce the short term pressure on the international resources, paving way for the appreciation and stabilization of the Cedi.

Mrs Quartey said  the implementation of the 2014 Budget in the first half of the year was met with challenges.

This, she explained, included the shortfalls in revenue particularly, from grants and concessional financing, high wage bill, depreciation of the cedi, decline in gold and cocoa prices amonsg others.

She noted that though cocoa prices had recovered, the decline in gold prices and volumes still posed a risk to the country’s external position and domestic revenue mobilization.

The Coordinator, Institute for Physical Policy, Mrs Philomina Johnson, described taxation and its collection as a problem facing the country.

“Tax collection had been a problem in the current year. The 2015 budget must focus on the best way of collecting them”, she said.
She added that although too much taxation was not advised, government needed to them for developmental projects.

She was of the view that, the flat rate of Value Added Tax, (VAT), brought regression and should be looked at.

She called for the implementation of health nutrition policies, saying they would help address the health needs of children under five years.

A  Policy Research Officer of the Association of Ghana Industries, (AGI), Mr John Defor, was of the view that businesses had been under financial strain in 2014 as a result of property rate.

He the revision of property rate to 800 per cent had impacted on businesses and advocated for its revision.

Source: ISD