The Minority in Parliament has launched a scathing criticism of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta’s claims that the economy is on a turnaround.
According to the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minister has rather deepened the country’s economic woes.
This comes after the presentation of the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review in which Ofori-Atta, expressed optimism about Ghana’s economic recovery.
During his statement, the Finance Minister highlighted the progress made in the economy since seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He asserted that Ghana had “turned the corner” and was committed to continuing on that path.
In a sharp rebuttal, Dr Ato Forson criticized the Finance Minister’s claims, labelling them as false. He pointed out that despite promising not to borrow, Ofori-Atta had borrowed 5.5 billion Ghana cedis from the T-Bill market in the first half of the year, with plans to borrow an additional 41 billion cedis later on.
“He said that the performance so far shows that, we have turned the corner. Unfortunately, the evidence and the numbers before us, show us that he has rather deepened our woes,” the Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam legislator said.
The Minority Leader also attributed the depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi to the government’s default in paying external interest and principal.
“I say this because he has said to us today that he’s revising economic growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP. Again, he said to us here and now that he has borrowed 5.5 billion Ghana cedis from January to June, from the T-Bill market. Mr Speaker, not long ago, this same Minister informed us that he will not borrow at all in the year 2023. And that going into the remaining parts of the year, he is going to borrow another 41 billion Ghana cedis.”
“Aside from that, the Cedi depreciation we are seeing so far, it’s largely because we have defaulted in the payment of external interest and principal. That is why the cedi has depreciated.”
