Renowned economist, Kwame Pianim, has revealed that Ghana’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are not going well.

According to him, the Fund wants President Akufo-Addo to publicly admit that the economic trajectory of the country is in dire crisis, thus, needs support.

He noted that the IMF is keenly waiting for the President’s definite pronouncement before they come in to support.

“The IMF negotiations are not going well. I know this for a fact. What the IMF is waiting for is a bold credible pronouncement from the president as he did over [the] Covid-19.

“The President said I take full responsibility. I am in charge and I am going to make sure that Ghanaians are protected from [the] Covid-19. We need the President to own the crisis.

"To come out and say ‘there is nothing that I will not do to stabilise the economy of Ghana to stop this pressure and the economic crisis that is looming and that there are no sacred cows,’" he said in an interview with TV3.

When asked how he knows about the IMF negotiations, Mr Pianim said: “It is my business, to keep my ears open. I am a Ghanaian, and I am interested in the economy moving in the right direction. [And] we have friends in Washington so what I am saying is that it is not going well.”

He further stated that government needs to review any and every government programme if necessary to ensure that the economy bounces back.

Ghana’s economic crisis has been on the decline for months now. This caused government to seek the intervention of the IMF in July.

Whiles it has partly blamed the aftershock of Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, the opposition insists the crisis has been brought on by economic mismanagement brought on by reckless borrowing and unnecessary spending.