Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the country has to turn over a new leaf with its financial management after securing a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Dr. Bawumia said the country cannot continue with its old ways of utilising scarce resources. 

According to him, the government and the country at large must adjust itself to the new world. 

“Once those [negotiations with the IMF] are concluded, it will be clear that it will not be, and it should not be business as usual because we have to adjust to the new global and domestic realities,” the Vice President said.

Meanwhile, the Vice President also said Ghana would be working to reduce import dependency to address Ghana’s forex problems.

This, he explained that the nature of production needs to change because Ghana has more trade surpluses. 

“Which means that a lot of the foreign exchange that we are earning from our trade doesn’t stay in Ghana.”

“It [forex] is quite loose and that is why we are going to be working to see how we can tighten the foreign exchange,” he added. 

He was speaking at the Standard Chartered digital banking Innovation & Fintech Festival in Accra on Wednesday. 

The Akufo-Addo led government is seeking a US$ 3 billion bailout from the Bretton Woods Institution after months of struggle with the economy and a cost of living crisis.

The Ministry of Finance has said that government and the IMF have reached a clear path towards the final details of a programme with the goal of reaching a Staff-Level Agreement by the end of 2022.

This follows meetings between the Government and the IMF advancing negotiations towards a Fund-supported Programme in Washington (D.C) on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Under-pressure Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta said government will fast-track negotiations with the IMF to ensure key aspects of the programme are reflected in the 2023 budget statement.

However, some economists have cast doubt on the possibility of concluding the IMF deal before the year ends.