Ghana finance minister survives no confidence vote

Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta survived a vote of no confidence in parliament on Thursday after the opposition accused him of a conflict of interest and incompetence in managing the economy.

The West African country is battling its worst cost of living crisis that has seen inflation rise to 40%.

The finance minister has denied any wrongdoing, and has attributed the crisis to the combined impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In parliament on Thursday, only 136 opposition MPs voted for the motion of no confidence after the majority MPs staged a walkout ahead of the vote.

The constitutional threshold in a no-confidence vote of a two-thirds majority is 183 MPs.

Ghana is negotiating a $3bn (£2.4bn) bail-out plan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilise the economy.

It has been asked to restructure its domestic debt as part of conditions to secure the bail-out, but investors have expressed some concerns.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Image via AFP