President John Dramani Mahama has assured Ghanaians of his government’s readiness to tighten its belt by cutting wasteful expenditure to keep the economy in motion in the midst of the struggles.
The President says he has advised the Finance Minister to reduce expenditure as much as possible to ensure the vision of reducing wasteful expenditure is realised.
Speaking with Organised Labour Thursday, February 20, 2025, during a discussion on public sector wage adjustment, the President indicated that although he was aware that the economy was in shambles whilst in opposition, the reality he is facing equates the country to that of a crime scene.
According to him, the level of recklessness bequeathed by the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration is mind boggling, the reason he called on the Organised Labour to reason with him to ensure the economy does not crash.
The Labour unions had made a 60% wage hike proposal to the government who earlier decided to grant 6%. However, upon agreement between the two parties, a 10% increment was settled on, effective March 1, 2025.
“Comrades, you know we are your natural allies and we’ve worked together for many years. One thing that is a cardinal principle for us is to tell the truth at all times. We all knew the economy was in crisis, but some of the things I’m discovering myself, I mean, it’s been a criminal handling of our economy and Ghana is a crime scene, actually, because how a government could have been so reckless, I cannot understand.
“But we are faced with a reality and our options are very few. We can behave like the ostrich and hide our heads in the sand and let the economy crash, but then what effect would it have on Ghanaian households and everybody? And so I’ve told him [Finance Minister], I said, cut expenditure as much as you like. Even we ourselves in the Office of Government Machinery, cut as much of our budget as you like, because we all must make those sacrifices.
“I think this trust of the political class has arisen because it’s like when everybody else is tightening their belts, the political class is loosening its belts. But I want to assure you that we’re all going to tighten our belts and there will be no wasteful expenditure,” indicated the President.
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