A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Mr Gabby Asare Otchere Darko has revealed that figures and statistics released by state institutions such as the Bank of Ghana (BoG) show that the economy is doing well under this administration.
Based on the figures, he said, Ghana is working again.
“Figures from Bank of Ghana indicate that key drivers of economic activity are all on the rise: construction, imports, exports, industrial consumption of electricity, domestic VAT, passenger arrivals at the airport, and seaport activity. #GhanaIsWorking” the former Executive Director of the Dankwa Institute said in a tweet.
The Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, last year predicted a strong comeback in economic growth in 2021 after the ravaging of the novel coronavirus.
He is optimistic that growth will end this year at 1.9 per cent – higher than previously projected – before tripling to 5.7 per cent in 2021.
At 5.7 per cent for 2021, the Finance Minister is aiming at growing the economy above the average growth rate projected for West and sub Saharan Africa (SSA), but lower than the forecasts for some of the country’s peers.
Mr Ofori-Atta’s prediction of a rebound in economic growth next year was contained in the Expenditure in Advance of Appropriation (EAA), a stopgap novelty for election years that he presented to Parliament on October 28.
His optimism was anchored on the expected outcomes of policy implementations and the results of a Bank of Ghana (BoG) survey that found that some ‘green shoots of rebound in economic activity’ had emerged and were now quickening the pace of economic recovery faster than initially anticipated.
“Mr Speaker, I want to assure this House that we will recover; we will revitalise and we will transform the economy,” he said to the half-empty chamber.
With the fiscal deficit widening and the three rigid expenditures – debt service cost, employee compensation and transfers to statutory funds – eating all domestic revenue, a strong rebound in growth is critical as it would help to loosen up the fiscal strain and also limit the need for a state intervention to cushion the citizenry.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana