Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has stated that the government has made a positive start in managing the economy, although he raised concerns about transparency and the sustainability of some of the measures being implemented.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, December 31, the former Information Minister said it was important to acknowledge progress where it has been made.
“So when I hear a list of the economic achievements in the first year of this government, my mind goes back to what we also succeeded in doing in the first year of our administration. I think it is fair to say that this government has started well on the economic management front.”
However, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said his concerns lie mainly with how candid the government has been about the methods it is using to stabilise the economy, particularly the currency.
“The challenges that we have raised are to do with issues like how candid they are in the methods they are using. On the currency side, it was obvious at the beginning that the government did not want to tell the truth about what they were doing.”
He recalled that when concerns were first raised about the strategy being used to stabilise the cedi, government officials denied any form of intervention.
“We were clear on the strategy they were using and felt a responsibility to raise caution about the sustainability of that strategy.
“Initially, they were of the view that they should hide that fact. You recall the governor telling us there was no intervention or intermediation. The president also denied it.”
According to Mr Oppong Nkrumah, the government later changed its position after being forced to suspend the approach and introduce a clearer framework.
“One of your colleagues later asked the president at a press conference, and that was the first time the president admitted to the method that was being used. This was the same issue we had earlier raised, that we understand what is going on.”
He acknowledged that currency stability and a reduction in the cost of living are important to Ghanaians, but stressed the need to assess how such gains are achieved.
“If we are able to stabilise the currency or achieve some mild appreciation, of course cost of living is very important to the people of Ghana, and that helps everybody. But if the methods we are using are ones we should take a second look at, then let’s be candid and examine them, especially on the question of sustainability,” he said.
Mr Nkrumah said that towards the end of the year, there is now clearer information on the scale of the intervention.
“As we get to the end of the year, we now have clarity on how much intervention or intermediation has been done,” he said.
He said that the government’s ability to carry out such actions is largely due to programmes it inherited.
“They are able to do that because they inherited a particular programme that helps with the accumulation of reserves and the growth of our balance of payments, because they wanted to obfuscate, they would not admit that this was what was going on.”
“I think that they have started well, as previous administrations start. What matters is the methods, how sustainable they are, and how they translate into quality of life indicators for people,” he added.
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