The Government of Ghana has indicated its strongest willingness to undertake a review of its flagship programmes as part of meeting conditionalities set up by the International Monetary Fund.
The International Monetary Fund has requested such actions be undertaken by the government as part of expenditure rationalization to enable the country access the full amount of $3bn bailout being sought from the Bretton Woods Institution.
A paragraph under the “Public Debt Management” ,located on page 59 of the IMF Report read; ” We will review the flagship programmes of government and decide future course of action and strategy”.
According to multiple news sources, flagship programmes like the “Infrastructure for Poverty Reduction (IPEP), 1 Village 1 Dam and 1 District 1 Warehouse will be reviewed and streamlined for efficiency and effectiveness”.
” Agenda 111 will be remodelled to be completed over 5 years in line with budget allocations from the Ghana Infratructure Investment Fund from the Annual Budget Funding support for health infrastructure”.
Earlier this week, the Information Minister, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has reiterated the resolve of the administration to undertake a critical review of the programmes as part of cost cutting to meet IMF requirements.
” Honestly speaking, the options of all government flagship policies being on the the review list is non negotiable as we take an active and data driven decision to quantify the impact of the policies and see how well we can channel the resources to achieve optimum results inclusive of the much talked about Free SHS”.
The Free SHS policy upon its implementation in 2017, has been one of the most talked about and controversial ,as the calls for a second look have dominated the airwaves from political actors, CSOs and development partners.
