Ghanaian trader Mohammed Biney was already struggling when the government passed a new tax on electronic money transactions this year to try to revive the economy.
With Ghana now buckling under nearly 30 percent inflation, the Accra shoe seller was shocked when the government announced in July it would have to seek help from the IMF. President Nana Akufo-Addo once promised "Ghana Beyond Aid" to keep his West African country off foreign aid dependency.
But a sudden U-turn over an IMF credit has sparked fierce debate over his economic management as Ghana struggles with the highest costs of living in two decades.
"You can't impose taxes on us under the guise of saving the economy and then overnight come and tell us you're going to the IMF," trader Biney told AFP.
"I think they ran out of ideas."
Hit by the global pandemic and fallout from the Russian war in Ukraine on fuel and food prices, Ghana is in talks with International Monetary Fund to help stabilize its public finances. But the decision prompted fears that IMF-imposed austerity measures will force the end to Akufo-Addo's social programs and hurt Ghanaians already struggling with soaring costs.
A new opposition-led protest movement and unions threatening strikes over hardships have added pressure on the government just as an IMF team begins initial talks.
Saddled with heavy debt, limited access to fresh funds, and few revenue options, the government says the IMF offers short-term help. Eurasia Group's Africa head Amaka Anku told clients the IMF program will make it harder for Akufo-Addo's New Patriotic Party to argue they are better economic managers.
That may weaken the position of the likely NPP candidate for 2024 Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia though his probably opponent National Democratic Congress or NDC leader and ex-president John Mahama also faces challenges.
"Bottom-line, this makes for a very close election in 2024," Anku said.
Already the opposition has hit out.
"President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia should take full responsibility for incompetently managing the economy," said NDC lawmaker Haruna Iddrisu.
"The government must come clean and tell us what the people of Ghana should expect instead of blaming Ukraine and Russia."
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