Don’t sing songs of praise, the economy has not fully recovered – Economist

An Economist, Dr Adu Owusu Sarkodie, has highlighted the importance of sustainability in the country’s journey to economic stability.

Speaking in an interview, the economist noted that government and relevant stakeholders should be focused on recording a sustainable economic rate in order to attract investors.

He believed that a sustained number is more prudent to the fluctuating rates which Ghana seems to be a of culprit each year.

“If it is five per cent, it should be five per cent for a long time. Investors often look at the sustained rate other than this fluctuation in rate.”

“So it is better to have five per cent sustained for six years or more than having 10 per cent today and two per cent the next time. That doesn’t go well for us, so it should be a sustained rate of increase in economic activity,” he told George Wiafe on Thursday.

While reading the mid-year budget review last week, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta proclaimed Ghana was out of the challenges that have bedevilled the economy.

According to him, the government has “turned the corner” of the country’s economy.

This is after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted Ghana a $3 billion bailout to aid its economic recovery from the debt crisis.

However, Dr Sarkodie was of the view that it is too early to “sing songs of praise” since the country’s economy has not fully been resuscitated.

He instead advised the government to be more focused on building a robust economy that can withstand both internal and external crises.

A feat, he believed can be attained through a sustained number in rate of the variables or indicators of economics.

“An economy can be said to have recovered when it has recorded sustained economic growth…Once your economy is expanding and it is able to create jobs, this can be termed as a fully recovered economy and that economy is very strong, until then we would only be talking about the journey.”