The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has stated that, over the last 21 months, the period of stay of his government in office, Ghana’s economy has been revived, with the various macroeconomic indices all pointing in the right direction.
Addressing the Ghanaian community in Washington DC, on Friday, 28th September, 2018, President Akufo-Addo noted that, prior to his assumption of office on 7th January, 2018, all the indices of economic performance and management were abysmal.
“We are talking about the fiscal deficit, we are talking about Debt-to-GDP ratio, we are talking about rate of growth in agriculture, rate of growth of industry, overall rate of growth of the GDP, and utility tariffs. All of these figures were going in the wrong way,” the President said.
The poor performance of the economy under the erstwhile John Mahama administration, the President said, influenced the Ghanaian people to vote for him and the NPP in the December 2016 elections.
He noted that his government has, thus far, put the economy back on track, taken measures to help make Ghana as an attractive and business-friendly destination, and is re-establishing a a strong social foundation for the nation’s development.
“The measures we have taken, in terms of the results, are definitely positive. The 3.6% rate of growth we inherited in 2016, by the end of 2017 had grown to 8.5%. And, this year, there is every indication that the same rate of growth of expansion of our GDP is going to take place,” he said.
The growth of the economy, from 3.6% in 2016 to 8.5% in 2017, even before rebasing, President Akufo-Addo is an indication that “the decision the Ghanaian people made to change course, and entrust the management of the economy into different hands, has paid off.”
Inflation, which stood at 15.4% in December 2016, as at August 2018, is at 9.9%.
“The deficit, which was at 9.3% in 2016 had come down to 5.9%. Growth in agriculture, which was at 3% in 2016 metamorphosed to 8.4% in 2017, largely due to the success of the initiative that we brought in of Planting for Food and Jobs. Negative 0.5% growth of industry transformed into 17.7% in 2017,” the President said.
With the country, from 2009 to 2016, not witnessing any reduction in utility tariffs, President Akufo-Addo noted that the era of former President Mahama was characterized by the erratic energy supply, popularly referred to as ‘dumsor’.
“In the period (of my administration), electricity tariffs for residential users have been reduced by 17.5%. Non-residential customers i.e. essentially industrial, commercial enterprises, 30% reduction. The mining sector registered a 10% reduction in tariffs, and then for the special load tariff customers, i.e. the big users, 25% reduction. Water tariffs have also come down by 10% across board,” the President added.
Additionally, nursing trainees allowances that were cancelled by the Mahama government, President Akufo-Addo stressed “were restored in my first year in office; the teacher trainee allowances that had been cancelled, were restored in my first year of office.”
The National Health Insurance Scheme, which was on the brink of collapse, after being saddled with a debt of GH¢1.2 billion debt by the Mahama government, has been revived.
“And then the debt-to-GDP ratio which stood at 73% in 2017 has come down to 64% at the end of 2017. The size of the GDP itself, this is the final statistic that I want to leave with you, was GH¢164 billion in 2016. A year later, it had expanded to GH¢206 billion,” he said.
The President continued, “So if you look at all of these indices, there is no doubt about it that the change that the people wanted in the management of the economy has been utterly vindicated, and we intend to continue the programme of discipline of our public finances and measures that will stimulate the economy and stimulate enterprises in Ghana as the way forward to restoring vigour and health to our economy.”
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
It is only the unrealistic people who believe in Obinim Stickers! Building an economy and for that matter a country starts with the statistics. If you don't grow the GDP and lower inflation etc no progress can be made. Development is not only achieved with tangibles like roads, but also the intangibles like school feeding and National health Insurance. The NPP is the only party which understands how an economy works and thus develops the national economy holistically. By 2019 and 2020 the figures would transform into the tangibles for others to see. So you guys should look out for the goodies. Do not underrate the one chosen by The Lord Himself to save Ghana.
Mr President it's not indices we are going to eat.What d ordinary man in d street wants is food on d table and money in his pocket.U said u were in a hurry but u still appear to be on honeymoon.Stop d talking and work towards satisfying d ordinary man .
So per your logic, those whose training allowances have been restored and those benefiting from the Free SHS policy are not Ghanaians, or are not in Ghana. Improving economies means improving the living standards of residents in the country. Don't be fixated with the word ECONOMY. It is not a statute. Those who are saving monies as a result of Free SHS and payments of allowances will definitely seen some improvements in their living standard even if it is small, and those people are living in the country. May be non of your families (close and distant) are not in Ghana or are not enjoying the benefits of those policies. It is rather illogical to think that the economy is hard just because people are not made to pay school fees. What kind of reasoning is this.
You are on point. How does restoring allowances improve the economy? In a country where 98% of its resources go into paying government workers who are about one million out of a population almost 29 million, how can you say you economy is healthy. In your heart of hearts you've even regretted restoring the allowances as well as introducing the freeSHS. If you mom is dead and you say she is asleep, in the evening when all children go to their mom for food, we shall see who will give you food. Conman.
Does this man still smoke weed? He doesn't seem alright. It seems to me he is a confused man. In one breath he says times are hard, in another the economy is healthy, so which is which. How would times be hard if the economy is indeed improving? Nana stop smoking and be sober so you can make sense.