Deputy Minister of Finance, John Kumah has condemned statements from former President Dramani Mahama on the volatility of the Ghanaian economy.
On his accord, the economy of Ghana is presently performing way better than when former President Mahama led the country in 2012 and expressed his surprise at him (Mahama) saying the country’s economy is in crisis.
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“The economy is not in crisis. Mahama took the economy to crisis mode with dumsor and even went to the IMF for loans to take care of the country. This billion-dollar loan resulted in the IMF putting a freeze on employment. The country suffered double-digit inflation and that is what you call an economy in crisis.
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Although we are not comfortable we are doing well. The cedi is now stable after a very long time. We have bank reserves of about 4 billion. Now we are in single-digit inflation and how can one say the Ghanaian economy is in crisis when the government is performing so well.”
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, John Kumah indicated that former President Mahama is accusing President Akufo-Addo led government of sloganeering but that is far from the truth.
“Mahama said we are only sloganeering with 1 District 1 Factory but the President is commissioning factories nationwide. If the economy is in crisis would we be opening up new factories all the time?”
The minister indicates that the setting up of these factories invariably creates job opportunities for the youth and reduces importation. “We don’t have a problem now, we are doing better,” he reiterated.
The comments come on the back of the economic forum organized by the NDC on Monday. The forum addressed by former President John Mahama and former Finance Minister Seth Terkper criticised the handling of the economy under President Akufo-Addo.
Mr Mahama said the NPP government must accept that the mismanagement of the economy and the desire to spend beyond the means of the government in order to win elections has plunged the country into the current crisis.
“Yes, COVID-19 affected the economy, and no one can dispute that. It is however not the main reason why we are in the current hole we find ourselves. COVID19 only became a pretext for reckless election-related spending, which produced the largest-ever budget deficit in the recent economic history of Ghana last year.”
