By: Adiza Bawa
The Ghana Chapter of the Parliamentary Network (PN) of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, IMF has been relaunched in Accra.
The Network is a global platform for Parliamentarians from more than 160 countries with over two thousand members to advocate increased Accountability and Transparency in International Financial Institutions and Multilateral Development Financing.
Speaking at the relaunch, World Bank Country Director, Pierre Laporte said the World Bank is looking forward to working closely with PN Ghana Chapter in the implementation of the World Bank Group Country Partnership Framework, CPF, which seeks to support Ghana in its recovery from the pandemic and to lay the foundation for a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable development.
He said the CPF reflects the World Bank Group’s commitment to work with the Government and people of Ghana, in the pursuit of becoming an economically self-reliant country with greater opportunities for its citizens.
”As the Bank deepens dialogue and supports reforms in specific sectors, it is hoped that the work over the years, through the national budget, strengthens the way that sector ministries work with the Ministry of Finance. This is in the area of coordinating Ghana’s development agenda to achieve the results that the country has set out for itself”, he noted.
The Chairperson for PN Ghana Chapter, said the group’s aim is to grow and help it achieve the global initiative, as the objectives for the Network are clear. According to him, ”with MPs from both sides of the House, they will work hard to ensure that capacity building programmes are organised regularly for MPs as part of efforts to enhance their oversight functions”.
Vice Chairperson of the Network, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, said the Network, in dealing with the World Bank, ”would ensure the Bank interfaces with the Representatives of the people, so they can together deliver programmes that work for them”.
The Global President of the Parliamentary Network of the World Bank/IMF, Liam Byrne who performed the re-launch of the group urged the leadership of the PN Ghana Chapter, to use the platform to bring transformation to the country.
”Re-launch of the Network in Ghana is important that “bottom-up policy is better than top-bottom policy”, he posited.
In a related development, the World Bank Country Director, Pierre Laporte says the COVID-19 Pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war have interrupted Ghana’s growth and exacerbated macroeconomic and structural challenges, including debt vulnerabilities and energy sector fiscal risks.
Speaking at a forum to relaunch the Parliamentary Network of the World Bank and IMF in Accra, Mr. Laporte said ”high fiscal deficits and increasing public debt have elevated Ghana’s risk, limited Foreign Direct Investment in non-commodity sectors, and increased the cost of finance for private businesses”.
Despite recent challenges, Mr. Laporte said he is convinced ”Ghana can sustain its lower middle-income status to become a fully-fledged middle-income country”.
He reiterated the World Bank’s continuous support to help in that process, adding that the Bank has played a significant and positive role for Ghana.