‘After slamming Ghanaians with more taxes, when will Akufo-Addo learn’? – Prof. Hanke asks

Renowned Johns Hopkins University economist, Professor Steve Hanke, has again questioned the Akufo-Addo-led administration’s intention to enter an economic programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In a post shared on Twitter, he blamed government for imposing more hardships on Ghanaians by introducing more taxes in a move to salvage the economy.

He further asserted that the current IMF programme which the country hopes to benefit from, will fail like previous ones adding that the country’s inflation stood at 51 percent year on year contrary to the data from the Ghana Statistical Service which puts its near 30 percent.

“After slamming Ghanaians with more taxes to ‘save the economy’, Pres. Akufo-Addo runs to the IMF. When will he learn? SPOILER ALERT: Like Ghana’s past 17 IMF bailout programmes, a new programme won’t work. Today, I measure Ghana’s inflation at 51%/year,” he wrote on Twitter.

After slamming Ghanaians with more taxes to “save the economy,” Pres. Akufo-Addo runs to the IMF. When he learn? SPOILER ALERT: Like GHA’s past 17 IMF bailout programs, a new program won’t work. Today, I measure Ghana’s inflation at 51%/yr.https://t.co/hnzInDMrWT

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) July 24, 2022

Meanwhile, it would not be the first time Professor Steve Hanke has painted a gloomy picture of Ghana’s economic indicators.The 79-year-old economist has on numerous occasions described Ghana’s inflation status as terrible.

In addition, he has also described the Ghanaian cedi as a ‘central bank junk currency’ – simply meaning its value is unreliable on both the international and domestic markets.

Background

To address the unfavorable economic conditions in the country, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on July 1, 2022 authorized the Finance Minister [Ken Ofori-Atta] to commence formal engagements with the IMF for an economic programme.

It is the hope of government that through this approach, confidence from lenders will bounce back.

Consequently, the IMF arrived in Ghana from July 6-13 to begin initial discussions on the programme government intends to subscribe to.