Accra, Oct 8, GNA – The Ghana Chapter of the Parliamentary Network (PN) of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been relaunched in Accra.
The Parliamentary Network is a global platform for parliamentarians from over 160 countries with over 2,000 members to advocate for increased accountability and transparency in International Financial Institutions and multilateral development financing.
The PN Ghana Chapter was first launched on 14th July 2011, and it, however, became dormant.
The current PN Ghana Chapter has Mr Kwaku Agyemang Kwarteng, the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament and Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively.
Mr Pierre Laporte, the World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, said he was happy to see the relaunch of the Parliamentary Network of the World Bank/IMF Ghana Chapter.
He said the World Bank looked forward to working closely with PN Ghana Chapter in the implementation of the World Bank Group Country Partnership Framework (CPF), which seeks to support Ghana in its recovery from the pandemic and to lay the foundation for resilient, inclusive, and sustainable development.
He said the CPF reflects the World Bank Group’s commitment to work with the government and the people of Ghana in their pursuit of becoming an economically self-reliant country with greater opportunities for all Ghanaians.
He said as they deepened dialogue and support reforms in specific sectors, it was their hope that the work over the years, through the national budget, strengthens the way that sector ministries work with the Ministry of Finance to coordinate Ghana’s development agenda and achieve the results that Ghana had set out for herself.
“To really make a difference and ‘Together Transform Ghana, we must really make sure that there is value for money in public investments for the delivery of basic services to citizens,” he said.
“We have worked on audit, public finances processes and so on and all of that is fine. But the most important thing, I think is that citizens all around Ghana, including their Parliamentary representatives, need to monitor what is being done.”
Mr Laporte said the monitoring could greatly contribute to getting the best value for money, adding that if that happens, nothing could stop Ghana from reaching where it wants to be.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war had interrupted Ghana’s growth and exacerbated macroeconomic and structural challenges, including debt vulnerabilities and energy sector fiscal risks.
He said high fiscal deficits and increasing public debt had elevated Ghana’s country risk, limited Foreign Direct Investment in non-commodity sectors, and increased the cost of finance for private businesses.
He said despite recent challenges, he was convinced that Ghana could sustain its lower middle income country status to become a fully-fledged middle-income country.
He reiterated the World Bank Group’s continuous support to help in that process and that it had played a significant and positive role for Ghana.
“Today, we bring approximately $500 million a year for roads, energy, water, health, education, jobs and skills, social safety, governance, and assistance to improving the business environment,” he said.
He added: “But in the end, we are only part of the solution. The solution lies with Ghana. We will be there with whatever we can do to support new thinking, to contribute international experience, knowledge, and data and to provide financing.”
Mr Kwarteng said the PN Ghana Chapter, which was a platform of MPs from both sides of the House, could ensure that capacity building programmes were organised regularly for MPs as part efforts to enhance their oversight functions.
He said the platform would be better in terms of the partisan culture; and hopefully extend that culture to the bigger parliament.
Dr Forson, the Ranking Member, in his response to a question, explained that per Ghana’s constitution, grants do not need to go before the House for approval, unless that grant was mixed with a loan facility.
Mr Philippe Martini, Global President of the Parliamentary Network of the World Band/IMF, who inaugurated the group, in a virtual message, urged the leadership of the PN Ghana Chapter to use the platform to bring transformation to their country.
