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Ghanaians call for President Akufo-Addo’s resignation amidst record inflation, economic woes

Published

2 years ago

November 6, 2022

Ghanaians are calling for the resignation of President Nana Akufo-Addo following record inflation and the government’s handling of the economic crisis.

Demonstrators hit the streets of the capital, Accra, on Saturday 5 November calling for the president’s resignation.

The protest comes barely weeks after members of the parliament called for the sack of finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and his deputy, in order to “restore hope in the financial sector.”

President Akufo Addo had once promised a “Ghana without aid,” but the current financial reality of the West African country has put it in a situation the President last week urged Ghanaians to support his decision to seek an IMF loan.

Leader of the Kume Preko Reloaded movement which organised the protest, Martin Luther Kpebu, lamented the current state of the country’s currency.

“For every cedi and dollar we borrow, the president’s family benefits through a data bank which advises and helps to sell the government security. So, we are here to tell the president that he should step down. Enough of the cronyism, enough of the nepotism, enough of the corruption,” Preko remarked.

According to a Bloomberg report in October, the Ghanaian Cedi has been officially designated as the world’s worst-performing in 2022 as investors continued to squeeze foreign capital into the West African country.

As part of a measure to save costs amidst the national financial crisis, the president last week also announced a 30 per cent cut in budgeted discretionary expenditures and salaries of the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and political office holders.

The gold-rich West African country is battling debt, 20-year-high inflation, a weak currency, and rising inequality.

Related Topics:Economics Featured Ghana Protest

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

3 days ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

4 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.