The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has called on Members of Parliament to support the government in getting board approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
That, he explained, would ensure the economic stability of the country.
Ken Ofori-Atta revealed on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, February 16, 2023, that an IMF agreement will help Ghana recover quickly from economic challenges.
“We will recover from this crisis soon rather than later, as indicated by President Akufo-Addo. I will urge Members of Parliament to support the government to secure the board’s approval for macroeconomic stability,” he added.
Former Chief, Justice Sophia Akuffo, had earlier expressed displeasure in the failure of the Minister of Finance to respond to a letter requesting for exemption of pensioners from the domestic debt exchange programme.
According to the former chief justice, Ken Ofori-Atta has responded to similar letters submitted by other groups.
Sophia Akuffo said this while speaking with pressmen after another picket at the Finance Ministry on February 14, 2023.
She argued that the fact that the concerns of the pensioners have not been addressed is worrying.
Sophia Akuffo says it is becoming worrying that their concerns have not been addressed by the Minister.
Read Also: “Side chick” vs bank manager: Court directs parties to file written submissions
“A simple letter that was written by the association to the Minister of Finance exempts us from your programme. That is the gist, I always like to distill things to their lowest common denominator. Exempt us, we are pensioners. Up till now, I have seen a copy of the letter; it is dated January 7.
“Up till now, there has not been a note of acknowledgement, and just a few days similar letters that were written to the Minister have been responded to, whereby he categorically exempted other groups. Why? When I cannot fathom the reasons for something being done in a particular way, especially when it has been done for others but it is not being done for others, I started getting suspicious; I have grown to be an age where I have seen it all,” she added.
The former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo initially joined a group of pensioners to picket at the Finance Ministry on February 10, 2023, against their inclusion in the debt exchange Programme.
Government revealed that it has reached 80 per cent participation in the programme.
“The Government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) closed on Friday 10th February 2023 with over 80% participation of eligible bonds,” a statement from the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, February 14 said.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu
