IMF agreement vindicates NPP’s economic record – Minority

Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Member of Parliament for Karaga and Ranking Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, has asserted that the recently concluded Staff-Level Agreement between Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) vindicates the economic record of the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday, April 15, Dr. Adam dismissed claims made by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson that the NPP administration breached the IMF programme by failing to meet targets on the primary fiscal balance, arrears (payables), and inflation.

“It must 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,” Dr. Adam stated.

According to him, while some targets were missed, the agreement confirms that most benchmarks were met by the end of 2024 and that those shortfalls were not sufficient to collapse the programme as suggested by the current administration.

“The Staff-Level Agreement has proven that many of the targets had been met and missing a few could not collapse the program as the new government tried hard to communicate in furtherance of its propaganda objective,” he argued.

Dr. Adam emphasized that the fourth review of the IMF programme is based entirely on the performance of the economy as of December 2024, under the NPP’s stewardship, and not the new administration’s policies.

“The new government has only just concluded discussions on its proposed economic measures with the IMF through the ‘Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies,’ which are yet to be implemented,” he explained. “They can therefore not claim any credit for the Staff-Level Agreement or the upcoming Executive Board approval.”

Drawing a comparison with the previous IMF programme under the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in 2016, Dr. Adam said the earlier programme missed nearly all targets and had to be renegotiated—unlike the current arrangement, which remains intact and on track.

“As we await the IMF Board’s approval, we want to assure Ghanaians that we will continue to hold the government accountable to preserve the economic gains made and to ensure sustainable growth and debt management,” he concluded.

The comments from the NPP MP come amid a broader political debate over which administration should take credit—or blame—for Ghana’s performance under the IMF’s $3 billion Extended Credit Facility programme.