The minister of finance, Mohammed Amin Adams has intimated that the Akufo-Addo – Bawumia government has added 20 billion dollars to Ghana’s GDP they took over in 2017.
Reiterating the government’s strides in the economy despite the current challenges at a town hall meeting in Accra, the minister boasted that they have added more to Ghana’s economy.
“Because of the performance, you can see it reflected in the size of the GDP. Nominal GDP in 2013 was $64B but by 2016 it came down to $56B. However, in 2023 the GDP stood at $76B. So, in nominal terms, President Akufo-Addo has added $20B to the economy,”
“The size of our economy has grown by $20B. That’s not a small achievement” he stated.
The minister also highlighted the government’s success in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war arguing the two incidences contributed to Ghana’s economic retraction.
“Before COVID-19, this economy was growing at an average annual growth rate of 7%. In 2017, we grew at 8.1%, up from 3.4% in 2016. In 2018, we grew at 6.2%, and in 2019, at 6.5%. However, in 2020, at the height of COVID-19, we grew by 0.5%. This significant drop was due to the pandemic’s shock, not poor economic performance,” he added.
The minister further questioned critics who attribute Ghana’s economic situation to poor leadership and not external factors.
“How can you assess the performance of the economy without considering external factors, especially in a small open economy heavily dependent on external economies? Global inflation affects us,” he asked.
Samuel Nyigmabo
