Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is praising the government’s efforts in reviving Ghana’s economy.
According to him, the government has successfully turned the corners of the economy, marking a path to sustained growth.
In the 2023 mid-year budget presentation, the minister noted that despite economic challenges, there were equally vital signs of recovery.
The statement was widely criticized by opposition party elements and economists who did not think the country was out of the woods yet.
However, delivering the 2024 budget statement in parliament on Wednesday, November 15, Mr Ofori-Atta insisted that the economy has “turned the corner”.
“Mr Speaker, in the mid-year review, I informed this house that we had started turning the corner. Today, it is evident,” he said.
Here are the finance minister’s 7 points to justify the economic turn around;
- We turned the corner when inflation started declining from 54.1 per cent in December 2022 to 35.2 per cent in October 2023;
- We turned the corner when, despite a 1.5 per cent projected growth, the economy galloped at a remarkable pace and clocked an average of 3.2 per cent growth in the first two quarters of the year;
- We turned the corner when the currency, which had been under severe pressure over the past two years, depreciated by a modest 6.4 per cent cumulatively from February to date, compared to 53.9 per cent over the same period in 2022. the performance of the cedi is also a reflection of the fact that confidence is back, revenues have improved, and the recovery is indeed real and is here to stay;
- We turned the corner when companies started going back to the job markets to hire workers;
- We turned the corner when the international credit rating agencies, which have not been favourable to Ghana in recent years, started being positive about our economy; and
- We turned the corner when the banking industry started to record and report a profit-after-tax growth of 43.8 per cent (GHC 6.2 billion);
- We turned the corner when in record time we completed the IMF 1st Staff Review of 6 performance Criteria, 3 Indicative Targets and 3 Structural Benchmarks.