Former Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen, has said the two most important challenges of government are maintaining a strong resilient economy and the creation of jobs for the citizens, especially the youth.

According to him, these major challenges can only be dealt with if the country has a transformational leader.

Speaking during a meeting with the Ga Mantse King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II in Accra on Monday, March 13, the aspiring flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) said it was about time Ghana stopped running to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance.

Ghana, according to analysts has been to the IMF 17 times for help yet, the economy has not been robust enough to absorb both internal and external shocks.

“The two most important challenges that confront us as a nation currently are maintaining a strong resilient economy and secondly, creating job opportunities, particularly for our youths. These two challenges cannot be dealt with significantly without transforming our country. Since independence, we have been to the IMF 17 times, and we are currently working towards receiving a package from IMF," Alan Kyerematen said.

“We have to reverse this trend and the only way we can reverse this trend is to have a transformational leader who can move the country beyond growth to transformation. In all humility and modesty, I believe that I offer that opportunity to move this country forward to the transformation,” he added.

It would be recalled that government on July 1, 2022, announced its decision to engage the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $3 billion financial bailout programme.

Subsequently, a team from the IMF arrived in the country from July 6 to July 13, 2022 to engage Ghanaian authorities for a possible economic support programme.

A staff-level agreement between Government of Ghana and IMF was reached in December 2022.

The IMF programme, according to government is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and safeguarding debt sustainability among many others.

Meanwhile, government is looking forward to securing the approval of the board of IMF for the $3 billion bailout package by end of March this year.

ESA/FNOQ