Professor Peter Quartey, Director of the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana has hailed government’s decision to engage the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout in the face of rising economic challenges.

He says the move is a giant step in the right direction, describing it as one that is not a ‘bad option’.

Government has backtracked on its insistence not to take Ghana back to the IMF.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has thus instructed the Finance Minister to begin formal engagements with the Fund for a support program –   a development many economists and other financial analysts have welcomed.

“Let me say that IMF is not a bad thing because it is the second-best option after our home-grown solutions. But if that is not happening, we need to seek support from the IMF. So, I don’t think it’s a bad option”, says Professor Peter Quartey on Citi TV.

He said concerns about whether the country dragged its feet before heading to the Fund are neither here nor there.

“I don’t see where the delay is. Government introduced a number of cost-cutting measures and after evaluation, it has realized that the revenue is not coming in as expected, so it thinks that we need an IMF support.”

He is asking government to use the opportunity to seal the country’s revenue shortfalls to boost investor confidence, given the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and the war between Russia and Ukraine.