The assertions made by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, regarding the development of the Ghanaian economy have been labeled as inaccurate and misleading by the Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson.
According to Dr. Ato Forson, the Akufo-Addo administration has really made Ghanaians’ problems worse.
After experiencing tremendous economic challenges in 2022, Mr. Ofori-Atta stated during the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review given in Parliament on July 31 that Ghana is making small progress in reviving its economy.
He emphasized that the government’s goals and initiatives are starting to produce fruitful outcomes and asked the country to recognize the significant accomplishments made over the last three years.
Dr. Ato Forson argued that the data and facts support the opposite in response to the Finance Minister’s assertion on the House floor.
“The performance so far shows that we have turned the corner. Unfortunately, the evidence and the numbers before us, show us that he has rather deepened our woes,” Cassiel Ato Forson said.
“I say this because he has said to us today that he’s revising economic growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP. Again, he said to us here and now that he has borrowed 5.5 billion Ghana cedis from January to June, from the T-Bill market. Mr Speaker, not long ago, this same Minister informed us that he will not borrow at all in the year 2023. And that going into the remaining parts of the year, he is going to borrow another 41 billion Ghana cedis.”
“Aside from that, the Cedi depreciation we are seeing so far, it’s largely because we have defaulted in the payment of external interest and principal. That is why the cedi has depreciated.”
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Joseph Asare
