The Minister for Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta has justified the comment he made during the presentation of the 2023 mid-year budget review to the effect that Ghana’s economy has “turned the corner”.
He insisted that there has been some progress, showing that the economy has passed the critical point and has started to improve.
“We have seen progress, and for me it’s marvelous in my own eyes where we are now as a country,” he said.
Mr. Ofori-Atta made the comments on GTV’s current affairs programme, “Talking Point” on August 6, 2023.
Background
The minister in the 2023 mid-year budget presentation noted that even though there are challenges with the economy, there are equally strong signs of recovery.
“Members of the House have indicated to me in our engagements, we have turned the corner”, he said.
The statement has been widely criticized by opposition party elements and economists who do not think the country is out of the woods yet.
However, Mr. Ofori Atta insisted that the economy has “turned the corner”.
Citing some instances, he pointed out that there have been some developments in the economy which strongly supports the claim that the economy has passed the critical point.
He added that growth has picked up strongly in 2023, which indicates signs of significant progress.
“We were able to illustrate that based on these developments in the economy government did not need a supplementary budget, when the mid-year review was presented”.
In the mid-year budget, government cut total appropriation for 2023 by some GH¢21 billion.
“We can also not forget about where government has reduced inflation from last year to the current rate, even though there has been some uptick in May and June 2023 over the past two months”, he said.
Touching on the Exchange Rate market, Mr. Ofori-Atta said the performance of the cedi also shows the strong foundations of the economy.
Debt Exchange Programme
Government has launched what it calls an Alternative Offer that will result in the Pension Funds being restructured.
These are Pension Funds that have been invested in the Government Bonds and Securities over the past year, due to the current laws which actually direct the areas that the Pension Funds should be invested.
This will result in some GH¢31 billion of the funds restructured.
The offer, which begun on July 31, 2023 is expected to end on August 18 2023.
Mr. Ofori-Atta said he is hopeful of finalizing the Debt Exchange Programme by September this year.
He added that the action was needed to help put the economy on a strong footing.
Calls for Ofori-Atta’s resignation
There have been calls for Mr. Ofori-Atta to be sacked by the President over how he has handled the economy.
But responding to these concerns, the minister described the call for his sacking as “interesting”.
“In a democracy truly that is warranted, you give everyone the chance to express him or herself”, he said.
He admitted that Ghana’s economy has gone through challenges, hence some people may be unhappy and call for his dismissal.
Mr. Ofori-Atta stressed that he remains committed to helping stabilize the economy to deal with all the concerns.PIX: JoyBusiness
