I will not resign; it’s like abandoning my children – Ofori-Atta

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has responded to calls for him to resign.

There have been calls for the resignation of the finance minister after he stated that Ghana was not going to the IMF but made a U-turn to seek an IMF bailout.

Speaking at the ongoing New Patriotic Party (NPP) annual national delegates’ conference in Accra on July 16, Ofori-Atta said “I will not resign.”

According to him, resigning at this time can be likened to an abandonment of children by a father.

“It is almost like telling a father to resign from his children because he is changed his mind. There are times that decisions have to be made for the survival of a country and therefore if circumstances such as COVID or the Ukraine war occur which are not typical, it does change the environment, and sensible people will change their minds,” Ofori-Atta added.

However, the Finance Ministry stated that the government’s decision to go to the IMF is to help shore up the country’s foreign reserves.

“The engagement with the IMF will seek to provide balance-of-payments support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana’s build-back in the face of challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and, recently, the Russia-Ukraine crises,” an earlier government statement read.

A statement by the team from the International Monetary Fund led by Carlo Sdralevich after concluding its engagements with the government of Ghana noted that Ghana’s debt situation is worrying.

“Ghana is facing a challenging economic and social situation amid an increasingly difficult global environment. The fiscal and debt situation has severely worsened following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At the same time, investors’ concerns have triggered credit rating downgrades, capital outflows, loss of external market access, and rising domestic borrowing costs.”

SSD/BOG