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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has ended his two-day working tour of the Central Region with a firm resolve to resuscitate the Ghanaian economy by the end of 2024. <\/p>\n
He said government would continue to undertake critical fiscal and economic measures to spur growth and prosperity sooner than expected, despite the tough challenges. <\/p>\n
He noted that his administration had the track record of positioning Ghana to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world after it inherited an economy with the lowest growth rate in the history of Ghana\u2019s Fourth Republic. <\/p>\n
Speaking in an interview with the media during his tour, President Akufo-Addo maintained that the country\u2019s economic challenges were global in nature, induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.<\/p>\n
Among those were the country\u2019s inflation soar for the eleventh consecutive month from 29.8 per cent in June to 31.7 per cent in July 2022, driven by both food and non-food price pressures, he said. <\/p>\n
President Akufo-Addo indicated that people who downplayed or failed to acknowledge the impact of the two disasters on Ghana\u2019s economy were being disingenuous for their political purposes. <\/p>\n
He observed that, for instance, the price of crude oil had sharply risen to 100 dollars per barrel this year, an increment of between 60 to 70 per cent on Ghana\u2019s original budgetary allocation for the commodity.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Freight rates had tripled and global inflationary pressures across various economies in the world was affecting Ghana as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cNevertheless, the issue is not that you are in difficulty alone. We all face difficulties in our lives but the issue is how resolved you are to get out of it and that is what my government is concerned with now,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am very determined that by the time I leave office on the 7th of January, 2025, the economy of Ghana will be back again in the strong place, because that is the way I\u2019m going to be able to help my party break the eight.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The President noted that Ghana\u2019s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was necessary in the short term but not the silver bullet for the country\u2019s economic woes because Ghana could do a lot on its own to salvage the economy.<\/p>\n
President Akufo-Addo visited seven constituencies in the Central Region and cut the sod for new projects, inspected ongoing ones, and commissioned completed ones from Friday to Saturday, September 2- 3, beginning his tour with a radio interview at Kasoa. <\/p>\n
At every stop, the President received a rousing welcome by the people, party supporters, carrying placards with the inscription: \u201cGod bless Akufo-Addo, a good father of the nation\u201d, \u201cNo more dumsor, this is a visionary leadership\u201d, \u201cNana Guy Guy\u201d, \u201cNana Show boy\u201d, \u201cThank you for bringing our factory back\u201d among others. <\/p>\n
His popular phrase; \u201cfellow Ghanaians\u201d sparked spontaneous cheers and jubilation anytime he mounted the podium to speak. <\/p>\n
Some of the projects he undertook were sod-cutting for the 16-kilometer Kasoa-Bawjiase Road, commissioning of the APPEB Cylinder Manufacturing Company at Awutu Chochoe, and the Rikpat Lube MFG Limited at Gomoa Fetteh Junction, both under the One District One Factory, inspection of a hospital project at Gomao Afransi, under the Agenda 111, inspection of the rehabilitation works on the Komenda Sugar Factory, and the Elmina Fishing Port, which is 90.5 complete.<\/p>\n
He paid a courtesy call on four chiefs, held a meeting with metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, regional executives and constituency chairmen of the New Patriotic Party in Cape Coast, inspected the Infectious Diseases Centre at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, commissioned the Central Regional House of Chiefs building, and finally joined the chiefs and people of Cape Coast at the grand durbar to climax the Fetu Afahye. <\/p>\n
President Akufo-Addo maintained that critical government projects such as the Planting for Food and Jobs, Free Senior High School, and the 1D1F would not be affected by the IMF conditionalities. <\/p>\n
Those policies were introduced between 2017 and 2019 when Ghana was already under an IMF programme and, therefore, would ensure they were not sacrificed under another programme by the same institution, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlready there is an understanding on the part of the Fund that these initiatives are great and so they will not tamper with them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very confident that by the end, the arrangements we will make with the Fund will improve our public expenditure and we\u2019ll get value for our money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: GNA<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Featured Video\n<\/p>\n\n
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