Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, has said the current economic realities in the country has exposed the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who is also the Vice President and Head of the Economic Management Team.
With the much touted credentials of the Vice President prior to the coming into power of the NPP, Dr. Ato Forson says Ghanaians expected much from the “Economic Whizkid” only to be given a plummeting economy after being handed power.
Addressing a news conference in Parliament Wednesday, May 15, 2024, Dr. Ato Forson lamented the ramifications of the depreciated cedi on the economy, calling on the government to up its game.
He expressed shock over the failure of the economy to rise despite the intervention of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He said “in spite of the huge inflows of foreign exchange from the IMF and the World Bank, into the Ghanaian economy, and I’m talking of billions of Ghana cedis, billions of US dollars, the government’s action and its management of the cedi have continued to fuel steep depreciation with no end in sight unfortunately.”
“So far, the decisions of the Economic Management Team chaired by Vice President Alhaji Bawumia leaves a lot to be desired. The reality of the Ghanaian economy today exposes the credentials of the so-called Economic Whiz-kid who was marketed as the saviour of the economy. Alhaji Bawumia’s credibility is now in tatters.
“The steep depreciation of the Cedi has resulted in increase in the prices of goods and services, as several businesses continue to revise prices upwards. This development would further worsen the plight of the already suffering Ghanaian,” he stated.
According to the Ajumako Enyan Essiam Member of Parliament, the situation is “even more worrying and depressing to see constant media reports of escalating prices of goods and services as a result of traders’ inability to service their loans and restock due to the rapid fall of the Cedi.”
He bemoaned how businesses, especially those dealing in imports, are suffering due to the cedi’s continuous fall.
“At this point, traders, especially importers, require more money to buy or import the same quantity of items that they could have previously purchased with less money. One can imagine the impact of this fall of the Cedi on businesses at Abossey Okai, Kokompe, Okaishie, Makola, Kejetia and other major business centres in the country,” he lamented.
The cedi was trading against the dollar at GH₵ 11.98 but is now hovering around GHC 14.80 at the forex bureaus, resulting in a depreciation rate of close to 20% since the beginning of the year.
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