Ato Forson on seven reasons why Ghana’s economy is struggling
The Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam MP has warned that unless the Akufo-Addo government commits to finding solutions to Ghana's mounting economic challenges at a stakeholders' forum, the country's dire situation will worsen
Cassiel Ato Forson, ranking member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, has attributed Ghana’s current economic crisis to seven factors.
The Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam MP has repeatedly warned that unless the Akufo-Addo government commits to finding solutions to Ghana’s mounting economic challenges at a stakeholders’ forum, the country’s dire situation will worsen.
In a Facebook post on Saturday(14 January), the former deputy finance minister pointed at the size of the Akufo-Addo government since it assumed power in 2017 as an avenue where taxpayers’ monies have been siphoned away.
He wrote:
1. The NPP has the largest size of government in the history of Ghana! Find out how many ministers they’ve appointed from 2017. At one point, they had over 125 ministers!
2. This government has over 1,000 presidential staffers paid as article 71 office holders at the jubilee House!
3. They’ve also appointed so many special assistants to ministers with emoluments close to that of deputy ministers at the various MDA’s.
Take also into consideration:
4. The number of spokespersons at various MDA’s paid above the pay of Directors!
5. The number of CEO’s at various State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) and their pay packages! Many of these SOEs now employ 3 or 4 deputy CEOs with fat conditions of service!
6. The impact of the Over 50 new agencies with zero output, eg. CODA, NADA, MBDA, free SHS secretariat, 1D1F secretariat, Petroleum Hub Development Authority, Ghana cares Secretariat, etc
7. The unconscionable decision to send over 100 Databank staff to the Finance Ministry as special assistants and paid as customs commissioners on GRA’s payroll!
IMF Bailout
Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) however have reached a staff-level agreement for a US$3 billion economic support.
The authorities’ strong reform programme aims at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while protecting the vulnerable, preserving financial stability, and laying the foundation for strong and inclusive recovery.
To support the objective of restoring public debt sustainability, the authorities have launched a comprehensive debt operation.
In addition to a frontloaded fiscal consolidation and measures to reduce inflation and rebuild external buffers, the programme envisages wide-ranging reforms to address structural weaknesses and enhance resilience to shocks.
Way forward
On the way forward for the country, Vice-President Bawumia said, “unfortunately, judging from where we are today, there is no end in sight for the Russia-Ukraine war. While we hope for a quick end to the war, we must understand that things could get worse before they get better.”
He said the major lesson of the last two years is that “we have to be more self-reliant as a country. It is important that we take decisions that will inure to the benefit of the country regardless of whether we are going to the IMF for a program or not.”
According to Dr Bawumia, the immediate task for the country is to restore fiscal and debt sustainability – through revenue and expenditure measures and structural reforms, adding that “non-concessional borrowing should be curtailed to enhance debt sustainability.
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