It is an awkward time: Ken Ofori-Atta reacts to Ghana’s downgrade by Moody’s
- Ghana's finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has described Moody's downgrade of the economy to negative as "awkward"
- According to him, it comes at a time when the country is dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic, which was unexpected
- He was speaking at the 2020 IMF/World Bank Virtual Spring meeting
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Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s finance minister, has described as awkward, a downgrade of Ghana’s economy by international rating firm, Moody’s.
According to him, the timing is bad, as an unknown enemy, the coronavirus, has caused led to unexpected economic consequences.
“It is in my view that this is a very awkward time for sovereign credit rating downgrading and talks of moral hazard in the face of an unknown attack by an unknown enemy for what is not a blizzard but, at best, a long winter”, he said as part of his concluding remarks at the 2020 IMF/World Bank Virtual Spring meeting, which recently came to an end.
READ ALSO: IMF gives Ghana $1 billion to fight the COVID-19 epidemic
Ofori-Atta, per a report by classfmonline.com, also called for a two-year moratorium for repayment of loans by African countries to the Bretton Wood institutions.
He also asked for debt relief for all African countries and then proposed a three-pronged approach to bring the world economy back to growth.
In his opinion, it is important to note that the current economic crisis will last much longer and have a greater impact on the developing world.
For that reason, he went on, it is important to have a new global economic order to save the world from the economic ravages of COVID-19.
YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Moody’s, an international rating agency, has downgraded Ghana’s economic outlook from positive to negative.
The firm, however, maintained the country’s long-term local and foreign currency issuer and foreign currency senior unsecured bond ratings at B3.
Information available shows that the outbreak of the coronavirus is a key reason for the downgrade.
The COVID-19 has also resulted in a significant decrease in tax revenue and increased the chances of systematic risks.
READ ALSO: Parliament approves GHC1.2 billion for government to fight the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme
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Source: YEN.com.gh
