Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a prominent New Patriotic Party (NPP) member, claims that the minority in parliament forced the government to apply for an IMF bailout.
He asserted that the Minority’s opposition to the tax’s approval led to the government’s choice to turn to the IMF, which is why it was difficult to raise enough money from the E-levy.
“We had a significant revenue-generating strategy that had been unsuccessful for six months. The point is that while there were problems, the government devised its own programs to explore how to handle them, and those plans were thwarted by the Parliament that exists today. In reality, the minority leader was grabbing the glory and bragging for delaying the government’s effort to raise money by six months. On Joy News on Saturday, he stated, “I’m not sure how any administration in Ghana’s situation would have saved that [situation].
“In my opinion, having an opposition party that thinks that political capitalization of events is the only thing that matters and that can go out and tell the public that yes, congratulate us because we stopped the government from getting its way in raising revenue to solve the situation and the problems facing the ordinary Ghanaian,’ then I think those are the things we need to focus on,” he added
On Friday, July 1, 2022, the Ministry of Information declared that President Akufo-Addo had given the go-ahead for Ghana to start negotiations with the IMF for a bailout. The ministry announced that Ken Ofori-Atta, the minister of finance, will be in charge of negotiating with the IMF in the upcoming days.
The revelation has been met with mixed reactions because it represents a significant U-turn by the administration after it made a vow never to again participate in an IMF program after exiting the most recent one in 2019.
However, Mr. Otchere-Darko claims that the administration was adamant in its choice not to approach the IMF, but that it was persuaded to do so because the E-levy, a significant tax measure used to raise money and place the economy on the path of growth was delayed by the Minority
We are in a difficult situation, but if you are the government and don’t intend to go to the IMF, but you are put in a situation where your avenues for raising revenue are being closed, then what do you do? “, he claimed, adding that the government now has no choice but to ask the IMF for assistance.