John Peter Amewu, the Minister of Railway Development has described the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta as one of the best economists in the country under the Fourth Republic. He said: "This Finance Minister has been one of the best brains so far, everybody can attest to the fact."
His comments come after the President authorized Ken Ofori-Atta to commence formal engagements with the IMF for a bailout.
A statement issued by the information ministry said the order follows a telephone conversation between President Akufo-Addo and the IMF Managing Director, Miss Kristalina Georgieva.
It said "At a meeting on June 30th, 2022, the cabinet indicated its support for the decision," the statement said on Friday, July 1.
"The engagement with the IMF will seek to provide a balance of payment 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".
Peter Amewu speaking on the IMF bailout justified the loan the government seeks from the IMF.
In an interview on TV3, he said "What is wrong with borrowing? If you borrow for a good reason there is nothing wrong, when you borrow for consumption, that is when you have a problem.
"The infrastructural development that we are seeing today is part of the borrowing and we are borrowing for good reason. These projects as having clearly demonstrated, are bankable projects, so if you borrow to finance a bankable project that has shown all elements of bankability, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it.
"The Finance Minister has done extremely well and I think that so far he has been one of the best Finance Ministers we have seen in the Fourth Republic."
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