Seth Terkper, a former minister of finance, asserts that in order to effectively manage Ghana's economy, the government requires assistance from a reliable source like the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He asserts that in order for a country to have economic development, the government must either manage the economy prudently "or in conjunction with a body which is more credible."
"Your (government's) own tax dollars are being squandered on major, big agenda items, and mind you, the fact that the money is being spent outside of the budget on the Cathedral and other stuff that are now becoming public does not help our story. Because it indicates that the expense is not reflected in the budget.
So all an analyst needs to do to generate a new, much bigger deficit figure is to take the amount that was spent outside the budget and add it to the budget numbers. Because the revenue was where the money came from, unless of course the income wasn't documented either," he said to Francis Abban on Morning Starr on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
Mr. Terkper emphasised once more that establishing smart economic management takes time for a country.
In order to wean yourself off the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said, "you programme over time, even if it's a decade."
Professor John Gatsi, the dean of Cape Coast University's business school, has blamed Ghana's economic difficulties on Ken Ofori-Atta is the finance minister.
His remarks follow multiple tweets by prominent NPP member Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko on Monday in which she implied that Ghana would require assistance to restore investor confidence in the economy as anticipated income from the contentious E-levy drops.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Otchere-Darko claimed that just 10% of the anticipated money had been generated by the much-heralded Electronic Transaction.
During a Starr FM interview. Mr. Gatsi stated that the nation should be extremely concerned about the Finance Minister's borrowing binge.
He has been in charge of managing the economy since 2017, and his overall approach to fiscal management has really led to a significant issue. He cannot handle the Ghanaian economy solely in 2022.
"And I don't believe he is unaware of this, either. He is the one who explains the type of borrowing that is necessary and how that borrowing has affected the nation. Therefore, the Finance Minister is the only one who can be held accountable.
He stated, "He believes that he has delivered most of the topics he comes to Parliament to present. Therefore, rather than extending it to those people who have been deemed valuable to the government, we should hold him to those standards. but might not have direct control over national issues.
Prof. Gatsi went on to say that the Finance Minister needs to explain to Ghanaians the advantages of his borrowing binge.