Business Analyst - July 5

Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Mahama went to IMF over misuse
of resources — Razak Kojo Opoku
POLICY Analyst, Razak
Kojo Opoku, has hit
hard at former President
John Mahama,
claiming that the latter
resorted to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) after misusing
public resources.
His comments follow criticisms
against the Akufo-Addo
gov’t for opting for an IMF
bailout as the country’s economic
crisis deepens.
In a statement, Razak Opoku
said former President John Mahama
actually went to the IMF
because of “Fiscal indiscipline
anchored on pure incompetence
and not because of lack of resources.
Below is the full
statement:
Mahama Went to the IMF because
of Misuse or Waste of Resources
And Not because of Lack
of Resources: Razak Kojo Opoku
Writes to NdC
The fact and data always support
the narrative that former
President John Mahama actually
went to the IMF because of Fiscal
Indiscipline anchored on Pure
Incompetence and Not because
of a lack of resources.
According to the International
Monetary Fund, the NdC
government under John Mahama
came to the IMF for an
economic bailout because of:
1. Fiscal Indiscipline due to
the mismanagement of the economy.
2. domestic economic crisis
caused by dUMSOR.
3. Lack of Investor Confidence
due to poor economic indicators
and conditions.
4. Misuses and Waste of Public
funds influenced by create,
loot and share scheme.
Before considering going to
the IMF in 2014/2015, John Mahama
himself in his State of the
Nation address to Parliament on
Thursday, February 21, 2013, declared
to Ghanaians that, and I
quote, ".... Mr. Speaker, the meat is
now down to the bones and it is
time for serious rethinking..."
Interestingly, Mr. John Mahama
on July 24, 2021, publicly
opined that "Prof. Mills' legacy in
Ghana's economic history is unmatched".
He went on to state
that, "although the Presidency of
the late Prof. Mills was a short
one, the level of socio-economic
development chalked under his
tenure cannot be overstated".
Mr. John Mahama inherited
economic growth of 14% from
Prof. Mills and before John Mahama
left office in december
2016, the economic growth of
Ghana was 3.37%.
The economic growth under
the 4year mandate of John Mahama
WITHOUT global economic
crisis such as COVId-19
and the Russia-Ukraine War were
as follows:
2013---- 7.31%
2014---- 2.86%
2015----- 2.12%
2016----- 3.37%
Akufo-Addo's Government inherited
3.37% economic growth
from John Mahama and quickly
increased it to 8.13% in 2017.
John Mahama inherited a
single-digit Inflation rate of 8.8%
from Prof. Mills and before John
Mahama left in december 2016,
the inflation rate of Ghana was
15.4%.
At the end of the first 4year
mandate of Akufo-Addo's Government,
an Inflation rate of 15.4%
inherited from John Mahama
was reduced to 10.4% in december
2020.
John Mahama inherited massive
resources from Prof. Mills
coupled with good economic indicators
according to the words
of John Mahama himself but
sadly and unfortunately these resources
were misused or wasted
on the:
1. Payment of judgement
debts.
2. Woyome Scandal
3. Isofoton Scandal
4. Gyeeda Scandal
5. NSS Scandal
6. Brazil World Cup Scandal
7. SAdA Scandal
8. Bus Branding Scandal
9. Airbus Scandal
10. Slay Queens Scandal
Indeed, John Mahama's administration
chopped all the
bones and meat of the national
economy of Ghana before leaving
office on January 6th, 2017.
It is therefore out of ignorance,
mischief and historical illiteracy
for the National
Communication Officer of the
NdC to state that Mahama went
to the IMF because he didn't have
the resources Akufo-Addo has.
This is clearly myopic thinking.
One may ask, what resources
did John Mahama pass on to
Akufo-Addo to work with in January
2017? Is it the economic
bone resources?
For the avoidance of doubt,
Akufo-Addo's Government is
seeking IMF support because of
the adverse impact of global
COVId-19 and the Russia-
Ukraine War.
On the other hand, John Mahama
went to the IMF after
chopping all the meat and bones
of the economy inherited from
Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills.
Banks move away from over-counter
transactions into digital banking
MANY banks are moving away from
over-the-counter transactions to termination
of funds into mobile money
wallets, bank accounts of customers
and non-customers, the Bank of Ghana
has disclosed.
The year 2021 also saw the Bank of
Ghana granting authorisation to four
banks to partner Money Transfer Organisations
to terminate inward remittances
into bank accounts, mobile
money wallets, or cash pick-up overthe-counter.
According to the Payment Systems
Oversight Annual Report, 2021, some financial
institutions upgraded and enhanced
their payment delivery
channels (digital banking services and
USSd banking service), while others
introduced new mobile banking services.
The Central Bank also approved
mobile banking services for six financial
institutions in 2021, as compared
to seven in 2020.
BoG approves 26 products for financial
institutions in 2021
The Bank of Ghana approved 26
products and services for financial institutions
in 2021, compared to 32 in
2020.
The approved products and services
were mainly in-bound remittances,
mobile banking services, card issuance,
and digital micro loans.
Others included agency banking,
POS and ATM acquiring services, remote
account opening,
WhatsApp/chat banking, and Quick
Response (QR) code.
The Central Bank also granted approval
to three financial institutions to
issue Visa and domestic EMV Gh-
LinkTM branded cards. One of the financial
institutions was granted
approval to issue United States dollar
(USd) prepaid cards for only international
transactions.
digital loans
Four financial institutions received
authorisation to offer digital micro
loans that can be accessed through the
usage of USSd code or mobile application
channel.
Agency banking
The Central Bank granted authorisation
to two banks to engage subagents
for money transfer services,
Agency banking is banking activities
where banks engaged various retailers
as agents to extend banking
services to the general public expanded
during the year under review.