Accra: Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye has stated that Ghana's engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have largely proven costly to national development. Speaking at a seminar organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the former Speaker of Parliament said the conditionalities attached to IMF programmes often compelled developing countries like Ghana to suspend critical social expenditure.
According to Ghana News Agency, Professor Oquaye cited the 2009 IMF programme, noting that the government had to defer statutory payments such as the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), which led to widespread infrastructure challenges in schools across the country. 'This situation resulted in major educational infrastructure challenges in all schools across the country, as the Fund was a primary source of finance for infrastructure development projects in educational institutions in Ghana,' he stated.
The seminar was on the theme 'The Dilemma of the 17th IMF Programme and Our Natural Resources - A Pathway to National Development.' It featured speakers from academia, the clergy, and the natural resources governance sector. Prof Oquaye traced Ghana's relationship with the IMF to 1966, following a military coup and the adoption of a Stabilisation Plan to address balance of payments challenges.
He said this marked the beginning of a pattern of reliance on external financing, often accompanied by austerity measures such as currency devaluation and cuts to government spending. Prof Oquaye also referenced the impact of IMF-led programmes in countries like Egypt and Pakistan, where workers and union leaders opposed the policies, describing them as neoliberal economic prescriptions.
He argued that Ghana's financial standing could be strengthened through effective governance and ownership of its natural resources, rather than dependence on international financial institutions. Reverend Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, former Vice-Chancellor of Methodist University, expressed concern over Ghana's repeated engagements with the IMF, noting that the country had sought assistance 17 times since independence.
He said that IMF solutions were short-term and constrained the long-term development ambitions and economic sovereignty of nations that accept the conditionalities. Dr Boafo urged Ghana to take ownership of its natural resources and prioritise governance reforms to break the cycle of external dependence.