By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The immediate past Finance Minister under the Nana Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, who also serves as Member of Parliament (MP) for Karaga Constituency and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, says the $370 million staff-level agreement approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) vindicates the economic record of the erstwhile NPP-led administration.
Dr. Amin Adam made this assertion in response to claims by the current government, led by President John Dramani Mahama, that the Nana Addo-led administration breached the IMF programme and mismanaged the economy.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, following the approval of the IMF staff-level agreement, Dr. Adam dismissed claims by the current Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, made during the 2025 Budget presentation, that the NPP government breached the IMF programme by missing key targets on primary fiscal balance, payables, and inflation.
Dr. Adam maintained that the IMF’s agreement confirms most targets were met, and the few missed indicators did not constitute a programme failure.
“It must also be noted that reaching a Staff Level Agreement has vindicated the previous NPP government contrary to the new government’s assertion that the programme had been breached and “the economy criminally mismanaged” in the words of the President of the Republic.
The Minister for Finance, the Hon. Ato Forson, declared during the 2025 budget presentation that the previous government had breached the IMF program because it missed the targets for the primary fiscal balance, payables, and inflation.
The Staff Level Agreement has proven that many of the targets had been met, and missing these few targets could not collapse the program, as the new government tried hard to communicate in furtherance of its propaganda objective. The 4th Review of the IMF program is based on the end-of-December 2024 performance of the economy.
To reach a Staff Level Agreement on these performances is therefore fully attributed to the economic success of the previous NPP government.
Dr. Adam further stated that the current government had only recently finalised discussions with the IMF on new policies through the “Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies”, which are yet to be implemented. As a result, he argued, the NDC government could not claim credit for the Staff-Level Agreement and its subsequent approval by the IMF Executive Board.
The former Finance Minister also compared the current programme to the 2016 IMF engagement under former President John Mahama, which he said failed to meet nearly all benchmarks and had to be renegotiated.
“The people of Ghana will recall that in 2016, under an IMF programme, President Mahama’s government missed almost all the targets, leading to a renegotiation of the then IMF programme. The same cannot be said of the current program, as it has not been renegotiated and is fully on track in line with program objectives.
As Ghana awaits final approval of the Staff-Level Agreement by the IMF Executive Board, Dr. Adam assured the public that the opposition would remain committed to holding the government accountable, ensuring the economic gains and debt sustainability achieved as of end-2024 are not compromised.
Dr. Adam emphasised that the achievements highlighted in the IMF’s fourth review were as a result of the NPP’s stewardship as of end-2024, and that the Mahama-led administration’s policy proposals are yet to take effect.
