User login

Ghana does not want to extend the IMF Extended Credit Facility

Изображение: 

July 18, 2017 Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo announced that the country does not want to extend the three-year IMF lending program, which ends in April 2018, although in June 2017, the Ghanaian government said that IMF proposal to prolong lending program until December 2018 had been considered. Therefore, the statement of the leadership of Ghana in July caused some surprise.
The IMF's Extended Credit Facility for Ghana of $ 918 million is aimed at maintaining a tight monetary policy, taking into account high inflation in the country and strengthening budget adjustments to cover key state-owned enterprises within the program.
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2016/cr16321.pdf
The current President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, was elected in December 2016. His government inherited this extended credit program, signed with the IMF on April 3, 2015, when the country had a slow growth, a significant budget deficit and a large public debt.
Now Nana Akufo-Addo justified this decision by the fact that his government is coping with the tasks of revitalizing growth and creating jobs in the private sector, and therefore there is no need to extend the IMF program after April 2018. His government wants to finish this program and move on.

In response to the statement of the Ghanaian President, the IMF reiterated that the expansion of the lending program is important because it will help Ghana achieve the targets, after the country was unable to meet certain program requirements. "Because of a significant delay in the implementation of the program in 2016, checking that the initial goals have been achieved will take longer time than planned," told Reuters the IMF representative in Ghana, Natalia Koliadina.
In August, the IMF Council should evaluate the results of the implementation of the three-year loan program in Ghana. At the beginning of 2017 in Ghana there were signs of a modest economic growth. At the end of June, the Statistics Service of Ghana reported that in the first quarter of 2017 GDP growth was 6.6%; the state budget deficit has slightly decreased, but public debt is predicted at the level 76% of GDP in 2017, compared to 73% in 2016, according to Coface (the French company, the world leader in risk insurance http://www.coface.com/).
http://www.jeuneafrique.com/459068/economie/ghana-surprise-apres-lannonc...

In the history of Sub-Saharan Africa it is not the first attempt of one of her countries to abandon the assistance of the IMF. In 1985, Burkina Faso (a former colony of France) refused international assistance under the leadership of Tom Sankara, who came to power on August 4, 1983.
From 1985 to 1988 Burkina Faso did not receive any financial assistance, neither from France, nor from the World Bank and the IMF. Then the financing of the national development plan of Burkina Faso, which was adopted with the participation of all citizens of the country, was 100% implemented from public funds.
As a result, very important projects were implemented in Burkina Faso between 1985 and 1988.

One of the first decisions of the revolutionary power of T. Sankara was the deprivation of tribal leaders of privileges, the abolition of payment of tribute to them and mandatory workings for the peasants; debts of small tenants were written off. To achieve the goal of the country's self-sufficiency in food, Sankara managed to significantly modernize the Burkinabe agricultural sector in a relatively short period by redistributing land in favor of peasants who farmed it, helping in melioration and supplying fertilizers. As a result, during three years the productivity of wheat increased from 1,7 to 3,8 ton per hectare, which allowed the country to achieve self-sufficiency in food.
- To improve the quality of the functioning of the state apparatus, T. Sankara cut down the salaries of officials, forbade them to use personal chauffeurs and fly on first-class air tickets; new rule was introduced to disclose the incomes of all state officials. From officials it was required to replace expensive western suits by a traditional cotton tunic sewn by local residents. On the eve of New year administrators were obliged to give a monthly salary in favor of social funds. After dismissing one half of the cabinet, T. Sankara sent them to collective farms - to work on the ground, "where they will be more useful". After three years T. Sankara came to power (in 1986), the World Bank stated that corruption in Burkina Faso had been eradicated.
- The national project "Construction of wells" was implemented - it included construction of 250 reservoirs and drilling of 3,000 wells. The project was important for solving the problem of desertification of land - the headache of the Sahel countries. In addition to this, Burkina Faso does not have access to the sea, the riverbeds dry up during the dry season, so there is no possibility of using free-salined water. As a result, the country's agriculture suffered very badly, that resulted in a crop failure, famine, a mass exodus of peasants from villages to cities, which resulted in the formation of a numerous lumpens in the urban slums. Thanks to the project "Construction of wells" it has been possible to significantly improve the water supply to Burkinabe villages and increase agricultural productivity.
- T. Sankara carried out revolutionary measures in the field of environmental protection. Mass planting of trees was organized. In his plan, the groves and forests were to become as a “human barrier” on the way of the Sahara offensive, to prevent desertification of lands and the subsequent impoverishment of the Sahel peasants. All the layers and ages of the Burkinabe population were mobilized for the planting of trees, in fact, the planting of trees was timed to each significant event. As a result, more than 10 million trees were planted, stopping the sprawling of the Sahara sands to the south.
- In the health sector, the campaign "Battle for Health" was conducted. As a result, 2.5 million children were vaccinated against various infectious diseases, and not only in Burkina Faso, but also in neighboring countries. Child mortality rates for several years of T. Sankara's management have decreased from 280 children per 1,000 to 145 per 1,000. Cuban doctors and paramedics-volunteers provided serious assistance in reforming the health care system in Burkina Faso.
- The education system has taken a course towards eliminating illiteracy, which was a serious problem in Burkina Faso. In accordance with the universal school curriculum, an “Alpha” campaign was conducted to teach pupils literacy in the nine local languages used in Burkina Faso. Also national literacy campaign was conducted. Over 350 communities built schools on their own.
- A road infrastructure development program was launched, which included the modernization of roads and railways in order to "tie the country together," as well as the housing construction program.

Unfortunately, the period of T. Sankara's rule ended too quickly: on October 15, 1987, he died in the result of coup d'etat. His former friend and comrade-in-arms Blaise Compaore came to power. In his work he folded all the achievements of the four-year reign of T. Sankara. First of all, he abolished the nationalization of the country's enterprises and opened access to foreign capital; returned privileges and high salaries to officials, senior officers of the army and police, on which he relied in his activity. France and the United States were happy to recognize the new president of Burkina Faso, and were fully satisfied with their interests in West Africa. Then Burkina Faso was granted an IMF loan of $ 67 million, although Sankara at one time categorically denied the need to use loans from foreign financial organizations. Gradually, all the gains of the social experiment undertaken by T. Sankara came to the past, and Burkina Faso has become a country with total poverty, a lack of social programs, and an economy was completely subordinated to foreign companies.
https://topwar.ru/55557-kapitan-dostoynyh-lyudey-kak-tomas-sankara-pytal...