President Akufo-Addo
Over the weekend, the President, at a hallowed Muslims ceremony, took opportunity to explain the need for Ghana to join the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a country programme.
Before the public explanation, the decision to go for support from the IMF had been explained by some people to imply that government, after all, was not in charge of the economy.
It was a field day for political communicators to take vengeance and give back to the ruling New Patriotic Party its own dose of tagging the previous Mahama administration as incompetent.
And, of course, it was healthy propaganda that also brought out the best from academia and other experts to give the citizenry a fuller picture of what went wrong in both administrations.
Whatever the accusations and counter-accusations have been, we are going for an IMF programme that we must collectively make the best out of. That means collective honesty and commitment.
Global crisis
Fortunately for the ruling administration, not even the opposition has doubted the fact that COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict had wreaked some negative impact on our national economy. What has been in doubt between the two leading political entities is the extent of impact.
The truth, as explained by the President, is that owing to the slump in the average economies, the world is united in building partnerships through its multilateral agencies like the World Bank and the IMF to roll out social intervention and business support programmes for citizens and nations across all continents. This is in addition to the traditional restructuring country programmes that we know.
Evidence
All across economies, we cannot deny that food and fuel costs are increasing even in the US, UK, France and Germany.
We cannot also deny the rising inflation across these big economies and complaints from their citizens that they are finding it difficult coping with the strains and stress of life under the easing pandemic and the cringing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Collaborations aimed at strengthening our fiscal space to remain robust and resilient, away from the storm that has shaken the foundations of our economy, should normally be exciting news for any citizen.
This is because no nation is an island as far as the negative impact and the compelling fight to redeem global economies are concerned. That, the Daily Statesman believes, is the reason why such collaborations are relevant in ensuring a rebound.
But we must also admit as a nation that, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, Ghana was already engaged in global partnerships over strategy in fighting the pandemic, beyond global issues like reforms that attract investments and business.
Collective support
Right under our noses, we have found businesses collapsed and livelihoods disrupted; we have seen some workers laid off in the private sector, and we have seen flights cancelled and borders closed.
But we have also seen government relieve citizens with social protection programmes that mitigated the circumstances of ordinary citizens, at least, for a whole six-month period.
That was evidence that some global crisis did, indeed, hit our economy. That is why we, as beneficiaries, must commit ourselves to supporting government to roll out that collaborative effort intended at sustaining the noble mandate of industrial transformation aimed at improving lives and livelihoods.
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