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Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has fired shots at the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in his public speech on the economy at an ongoing National Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) Training and Orientation Conference.

The Vice President was proud of the progress of the economy despite the world economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine war.

Speechifying before the party's national youth wing, Dr. Bawumia noted economy, under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and himself, has attained an impressive Gross Domestic Product which, he indicated, has been exceedingly higher than the growth rate that the erstwhile Mahama government achieved in its 4-year term.

''After a period of sluggish and declining growth, real GDP growth picked up from 3.4 percent in 2016 to an average of 6.9 percent between 2017 and 2019. The onset of COVID-19 in 2020 however resulted in a sharp reduction in GDP growth to 0.4 percent. In fact, many countries in the world recorded negative [growth] in 2020. Ghana was one of the few countries that had a positive growth even though it was very small.

''The resilience of the economy manifested in 2021 with a pickup of real GDP growth from 0.4% in 2020 to a projected 5.3% in 2021 with the non-oil sector projected to grow at 6.9% in 2021. In fact, the average rate of growth of GDP for 2017 to 2021, this is the period including COVID when we had 0.4% growth in 2020, the average rate between 2017 and 2021 is 5.3%'', he said.

He jabbed the NDC stressing ''even with COVID, the growth of the economy is fundamentally stronger than it was in the 2013 to 2016 period''.

He also disclosed that the government is majorly focusing on industrialization and production, hence supporting the automotive industry and local businesses.

''Also government, through Exim Bank, has committed 60 million dollars to supporting local pharmaceutical companies. So far, 75 percent of the approved amount has been released to the local pharmaceutical companies''

''Ladies and gentlemen, changing the structure of our economy through diversification and the value addition will not happen overnight. However, it remains it remains a major preoccupation of the government because it is our pathway'' to reduce ''dependency, expand the economy, create jobs and increase exports and support the value of the currency'', he emphasized.

The Veep also revealed that, under their 1 District, 1 Factory policy, ''106 factories have been completed and are operational and 148 factories are under construction...Ladies and gentlemen, this represents the largest number of factories established under a government in Ghana since independence''.

To Dr. Bawumia, ''the growth fundamentals of our economy are strong and resilient''.