NPP government failed to meet structural benchmarks set by IMF – Finance Minister

Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Finance Minister has declared that the administration of New Patriotic Party (NPP) was not able to achieve all the critical success factors set for evaluation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Dr Cassiel Ato Forson discussed that, statistics from the Ministry of Finance shows that, Ghana was expected to meet a 0.5% GDP surplus, but the NPP government’s reports shows a 3.9 % GDP deficit.

He also brought to attention that the programme of the IMF involves a monetary policy consultation that necessitated inflation to be at 15%. The country’s current inflation rate stands at 23.8%, notably higher than the target. Dr Cassiel Ato Forson commented publicly during an interview on The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV on Wednesday, March 12, 2025.

He was replying to questions concerning the IMF’s praise of Ghana’s performance, especially in the restructuring of debt and economic stabilization, as observed last December .

Dr Ato Forson “Okay, so let me begin with the carbon balance, which is an essential piece. We were supposed to do 0.5% of GDP. The data that we’ve seen so far, they’ve done a deficit of 3.9 % of GDP and that is the central mooring point. That is the main anchor for the IMF programme. There is a monetary policy consultation clause in the IMF programme and we are supposed to do inflation. Inflation was supposed to be 15%. What is the outcome? 23.8 %. It has triggered a discussion under the IMF programme, for us to have a conversation on the monetary policy.”

He continued: “As a matter of fact, the third significant QPC that our budget for social programs was insufficient. We failed. Even on social spending. So all the QPCs, the three main QPCs, were all missed and the structural benchmarks, including bills that were supposed to send to parliament, they missed all of them. So how can you say that the IMF programme is on track?, he stated.

“The Power sector is facing significant significant challenges. An energy sector that is uncovering a financial gap, in excess of 2 billion US dollars each year, that the state must be able to seek for money and finance. In the 2025 budget, I have allocated ₵28 billion to support the energy sector.”

He said that “If we are not able to do that, the energy sector, by the close of the year, would have seen difficulties  and problems and this is something we inherited. That is what the energy sector inherited.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) commended our country Ghana in December for our remarkable economic turnaround.

Image credit: Channel One TV