President John Dramani Mahama has expressed astonishment at the speed of Ghana’s economic recovery, describing the turnaround as much faster than he had anticipated when his administration took office amid severe economic difficulties.
Speaking at the First Sky Group Thanksgiving Service in the Northern Region on Sunday, January 25, President Mahama said the scale and pace of the recovery have exceeded expectations, attracting praise from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
According to him, the economic conditions his government inherited were so dire that he initially believed it would take at least two years to begin seeing significant improvements.
Highlighting key economic indicators, President Mahama pointed to the sharp decline in inflation and the strong performance of the Ghanaian cedi as clear evidence of the recovery. He noted that inflation has fallen from 23.8 percent to 5.4 percent within a year, while the cedi has appreciated by 37 percent over the same period.
The President attributed the gains to a combination of sound policy decisions, fiscal discipline, and what he described as divine grace.
“I have been at this job before. The crisis that faced us was very difficult. In my own imagination, I thought we would need about two years to see an economic turnaround. But Ebenezer, this is how far God has brought us,” he said.
“We are all surprised and shocked at the quick turnaround. Any time I meet IMF and World Bank officials, they can’t even believe what has happened in Ghana. Ghana has now become a poster boy of the IMF and the World Bank. It is only the grace of God. To bring inflation from 23.8 percent to 5.4 percent in one year, how did we manage that? For the first time to see the Ghanaian cedi appreciate by 37 percent in one year, it is only God.”
