John Kumah, the deputy finance minister, has changed his mind over the government's request for assistance from the IMF (IMF).
Mr. Kumah, who had previously argued strongly against an IMF programme, has now said that the programme will aid the nation in overcoming its current economic difficulties more quickly.
This comes after President Akufo-Addo gave the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, the order to start talking to the IMF about assistance on Friday.
He provided an explanation of the thinking behind the most recent government decision in an interview with TV3.
"Our goal as a government is to restore trust in the economy and bounce it from the difficulty, from the hurdles, not only in Ghana but virtually all economies across the world," he said.
"In our opinion, an IMF intervention will enable us to recover more quickly than we otherwise could. We anticipate it would be advantageous for the nation," he remarked on Friday, July 1.
The Akufo-Addo government won't ever turn to an IMF programme, the deputy finance minister has insisted.
He contends that generating revenue domestically is preferable to subjecting the nation to the "conditionalities" of an IMF programme.
However, a statement dated July 1, 2022 and signed by the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said that President Akufo-Addo and Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the IMF, had already spoken to each other to discuss the government's choice to work with the Fund.
"The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has been given formal permission by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), urging the Fund to support an economic programme developed by the Government of Ghana."
Cabinet gave its approval to the government's plan to pursue an economic programme from the Fund at a meeting on June 30, 2022.
According to the announcement, the IMF involvement would aim to offer balance of payment support as part of a larger attempt to hasten Ghana's recovery from the problems brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic and, more recently, the Russian-Ukraine situation.