As the government continues its effort in securing an IMF deal, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has cautioned Ghana to be wary of fiscal indiscipline going forward.
The former Minister for Finance for Nigeria gave this advice on Tuesday when she spoke at a discussion hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA Ghana) on the theme “Making Globalization Work for Africa.”
Commenting on Ghana’s Debt Exchange Program as a prerequisite in securing the assistance of the International Monetary Fund, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala applauded Ghana’s Finance team for its efforts to restructure the country’s debts.
She therefore admonished the managers of Ghana’s economy to implement strict fiscal measures to prevent the future occurrence of unsustainable public debt stock which has brought Ghana’s economy on its kneels.
“I believe that the Finance Team in Ghana is working hard and is doing the right things. They know that they have to embark on some reports in order to make this debt restructuring or forgiveness work,” she said.
“Thinking about the future is also important. It is not enough to get debt forgiveness. You have to apply strict fiscal rules to prevent that from happening in the future at least. If debt serving is eating up debt revenue, then you need a fiscal rule servicing your debt should not exceed a certain percentage of your revenue”, she cautioned.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is on a two-day visit to Ghana meeting policymakers, business leaders and civil society representatives while underscoring the WTO’s commitment to reinforcing support to Sub-Saharan Africa.
