The Board Chairman of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr Charles Mensa, has warned that Ghana risks returning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the 18th time if structural reforms are not implemented.
He lamented the country’s failure to fully leverage its vast natural resources despite being heavily endowed.
Dr Mensa cautioned that if the government does not take firm measures to strengthen its fiscal position, the ongoing financial crisis will persist.
Ghana is currently under its 17th IMF bailout program, following a debt crisis in 2022.
“For the record, we have been to the IMF for the seventeenth time, asking for a bailout, meaning we have gone bankrupt seventeen times. Ghana is one of the largest gold-producing countries in the world, yet with all these resources, we keep going bankrupt. Why is that? It is because we have no control over our natural resources,” Dr Mensa observed.
“If we don’t own our resources, we will continue to operate under this same model and very soon we will go to the IMF again for the 18th time,” he added.
Ghana is expected to complete the $3 billion bailout programme in 2026, subject to meeting all performance targets. However, Dr Mensa stressed that it is imperative for the government to ensure fiscal consolidation, strengthen revenue mobilisation, and stimulate growth across all sectors of the economy.
