Investment Times Newspaper 2023 Edition | Issue 11

GIMF bailout: Minority blows alarm over a looming 3million job loss

Minority Chief Whip Kwame Governs Agbodza has alleged that the government plans to cancel or suspend some 60 projects as a result of conditionalities in the negotiations for a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic programme.

He also disclosed that the suspension of the said projects would lead to about 3 million job losses hence the need for the government to be transparent about the conditions of the IMF deal.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Monday, the Adaklu MP questioned why government ocials were negotiating the deal in secrecy.

".......as we sit here, a series of

meetings have taken place with a close group of people in the NPP where about sixty projects and programmes are going to either be suspended or cancelled. These projects include the Obetsebi Lamptey road extension, the La and Shama General Hospital projects, the Tema Motorway Road project, and the Adomi Bridge project.”

"Nobody knows what Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Head of the Economic Management Team Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is negotiating for," he said.

“You will be surprised this government paid some of the developers 15 per cent to 20 per cent mobilization fees and the contractors are sitting in their o ces

drinking tea because the govern ment is unable to tell them whether to go ahead because the Finance Minister basically asked them to suspend all those proj ects and we are currently losing value because the contractors have taken the money and no work is currently going on.”

He also demanded transparency in the selection of these projects for either suspension or cancella tion.

“What are the underlying princi ples of the selection of the proj ects the NPP wants to cancel, sus pend or go ahead with? We all have to have an understanding of this because the lack of under standing creates anxiety.”