“We are not going to the IMF,” declared Ghana’s finance minister in February. Yet last month the government ate its words and asked the IMF for help escaping the pit of debt it has dug itself
at Kaneshie market in Accra, the capital of Ghana, peers into a small bag of scrabbling crabs with disappointment. “Before, if I buy two cedis worth, it can make my stew for me,” she says. “Now, no.” As shoppers moan about inflation, traders grumble about slow sales. Many blame the government. “The finance minister, if I catch him, me, I will beat him,” declares Esther, a yam-seller with a twinkle in her eye.
The government insists that today’s crisis is exceptional and not its fault. “We were on a very positive trajectory” before the pandemic, Mr Ofori-Atta tells. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent surge in global inflation compounded the harm, he adds.had already warned that it was at a high risk of debt distress before President Nana Akufo-Addo took office in 2017. Despite this, his government kept on borrowing.
Graft is another recurring worry. Pollsters from Afrobarometer regularly ask Ghanaians how many people they think are involved in corruption in various institutions, such as the police or religious leaders. When they most recently asked this question in relation to “the president and officials in his office”, more than half of respondents answered “most/all”.
Perhaps one explanation for Ghana’s ability to make a success of failure has been its readiness to turn to thebefore the economy suffers serious harm. In doing so politicians are able to blame the fund for prescribing the bitter medicine they know is needed, but would not take unprompted.
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