The Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson has refuted the claims made by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta concerning the progress of the nation’s economy, labeling them as false and misleading.
During the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on July 31, Mr. Ofori-Atta had expressed optimism about the country’s economic trajectory, as he assured that the measures implemented will lead to an upswing in economic activity, surpassing anything experienced in the history of the Fourth Republic.
“Mr. Speaker, it is important that we acknowledge some of the major milestones that this country has experienced in the last 3 years. We should be still and appreciate that despite our challenges as a country, we have been saved from many extreme conditions that others have suffered, including peace, health, security, continuous supply of power, and life itself, amongst others.
“Mr. Speaker, we have turned the corner and, more importantly, we are determined to continue down that path. Soon, we expect the measures taken to result in economic activity greater than anything experienced in the history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
However, Dr. Ato Forson, in a counterargument on the parliamentary floor, contended that the reality on the ground did not align with the Finance Minister’s positive assertions. Drawing attention to various critical issues, he highlighted concerns about the current state of the economy.
“The performance so far shows that we have turned the corner. Unfortunately, the evidence and the numbers before us, show us that he has rather deepened our woes,” Cassiel Ato Forson said.
“I say this because he has said to us today that he’s revising economic growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP. Again, he said to us here and now that he has borrowed 5.5 billion Ghana cedis from January to June, from the T-Bill market. Mr Speaker, not long ago, this same Minister informed us that he will not borrow at all in the year 2023. And that going into the remaining parts of the year, he is going to borrow another 41 billion Ghana cedis.”
“Aside from that, the Cedi depreciation we are seeing so far, it’s largely because we have defaulted in the payment of external interest and principal. That is why the cedi has depreciated.”
