Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson says the government has no intention of renegotiating or extending Ghana’s current programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking at a joint press conference with the IMF in Accra on Tuesday, April 15, Dr. Forson stated that the government remains committed to fully implementing the programme to restore macroeconomic stability and drive sustainable growth.
“Renegotiating pre-supposes that you don’t believe in the programme and so you want to open up the conversation to look at other parameters of the programme. That isn’t the position of the government. The government is committed to the implementation to achieve the objectives of the IMF programme,” he said.
He acknowledged that some structural benchmarks and quantitative targets were missed before the current administration took office but stressed the government’s commitment to meeting the programme’s objectives.
To that end, Dr. Forson outlined several measures to strengthen expenditure controls, eliminate the accumulation of arrears, improve budget credibility, and enhance fiscal and debt sustainability.
“We have commissioned the Auditor-General, together with two (2) international audit firms, to audit the payables and commitments to validate their legitimacy and values, and provide recommendations for corrective measures. The audit is expected to be completed within eight weeks,” he disclosed.
He also highlighted a recent amendment to the Procurement Act:
“We have passed an amendment to the Procurement Act to ensure that the issuance of commitment authorisation (e.g., commencement certificate) by the Minister for Finance is a prerequisite for all central government procurements under the Authority or the Central Tender Review Committee.”
Additionally, Dr. Forson revealed plans to launch a Public Financial Management (PFM) Commitment Control Compliance League Table to track and publish the compliance levels of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) under the PFM Act.
