Economic hardship will be over sooner than later – Akufo-Addo assures

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has admitted that the current economic hardship in the country is real but has given the assurance that the government is working hard to resolve the situation sooner than later.

Ghana’s consumer price inflation, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), hit 15.7 per cent year-on-year in February from 13.9 per cent in January this year.

Fuel prices, on the other hand, have also been soaring since the beginning of the year with the prices of petrol and diesel hitting nearly GH¢10.00 per litre, affecting transport fares and exacerbating prices of general goods and services.

But describing the difficulties as a global phenomenon, the President indicated, that Ghana was not the only country facing extraordinary increases in global freight rates, strong inflation repression, dramatic rise in fuel prices, unprecedented volatility of the stock market and tighter global financial conditions and blamed it largely on the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Nonetheless, the government continues to work hard to address these issues and I am certain that sooner rather than later, our economy, through the implementation of government’s GH¢100 million Ghana Cares Obaatanpa programme, will rebound from the ravages of the pandemic, bringing in its wake stability, development, progress and prosperity for all Ghanaians,” he assured.

The President made these remarks when he addressed the 92nd Speech and Prize Giving Day Durbar of the St Augustine’s College in Cape Coast sponsored by the 1997 Alumni year group of the school.

He observed that Ghana’s economy grew at a provisional 5.2 per cent in the first three quarters of 2021 with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for 2021 projected at 5.6 per cent as against the 0.4 per cent of 2020.

“We need to undertake the difficult but necessary fiscal and other measures that will enable us to maintain the 2021 and higher rates of growth in the immediate years ahead of us to develop and strengthen our economy and help improve the living standards of us all,” he stated.

Further, President Akufo-Addo once again took a swipe at characters he described as ‘coup mongers’ and ‘coup plotters’, saying their actions were irresponsible.

He insisted that coups had not and would never be solutions to the political, economic and security challenges of the country as well as the African Continent.

“I am confident that the greater majority of Ghanaians who are committed to democratic values and democratic institutions will continue to resist the rhetoric and advances of coup mongers and coup plotters and those of us who have the responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the State will employ all legitimate means in a democracy to preserve our free open system of government which is respectful of human rights, the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability,” he noted.