The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement signed onto by the John Mahama-led government ensured that government’s “ritual” of overspending in election years was curtailed in 2016, Kojo Addae-Mensah, Chief Executive Officer for Databank, has revealed.

According to him, the 2016 polls were held during the period the three-year deal, signed in 2014, was in place, hence reining in government spending.

Speaking on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM hosted by Chief Jerry Forson on Wednesday January 18, Mr Addae-Mensah said comparatively, government spending in 2008, an election year, was greater than in 2016 largely due to the strict enforcement of the terms and conditions of the IMF programme in 2016.

He said: “There was no overspending by the government in the election year (2016) because of the IMF programme and that is one of the things I will commend former president John Mahama for. He ensured that the IMF programme travelled beyond 2016, which was an election year.

“Usually, governments sign up for the IMF programme ensuring that it will end before an election year in order to overspend, but with this particular programme it went beyond the election year and that forced the government to stay within its budget.

“That was part of the reason why the economy seemed to have gained some strength towards the end of last year. We did not feel the election year impact in 2016 just as how we felt in 2008. I don’t believe we felt it that much.”

Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com