The President Nana Akufo has refuted claims that Government’s formal talks with IMF on a support package will affect flagship pro-poor policies being implemented.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the ongoing pro-poor policies are at the heart of Government’s since 2017, and remain non-negotiable items of the country’s public expenditure, and, as such, will not be affected by Ghana’s re-engagement with the IMF.

Describing it as a relatively easy assurance to give, the President referred to the statement by the IMF Country Director who indicated that an initiative like the Free SHS programme cannot be sacrificed on the altar of a programme with the IMF.

“So, all our minds are going in the same direction, and I’m very, very confident that these programmes especially the Free SHS, Free TVET programme will emerge from the programme with the Fund intact,” he added.
The President made this known on Friday, during an interview on UAR Radio in Bolgatanga, at the start of his working visit to the Upper East Region.

“I think there is something that a lot of people are forgetting. When we came into office, we were into an IMF programme in 2017. In fact before we exited the IMF, Free SHS was introduced in the September of my first term in office, a whole nine months of my coming under an IMF Programme. So, it is already been accommodated within the thinking of the Fund programme for Ghana.”

He added that, “It is (Free SHS) not as if it is something that we had to wait to exit the programme before we brought it. We brought it at the time we were and under an IMF Programme, and I will find it very illogical for us to have a programme we started under an IMF programme and because we are going to have a new one sacrifice it. That doesn’t make sense, and it will not happen.”