Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu, John Jinapor, has called on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to address the pressing issue of the Cedi’s depreciation to mitigate rising fuel prices rather than focusing on debates ahead of the December elections.
Mr Jinapor’s comments come in response to the recent increase in petroleum product prices, which has sparked widespread concern among Ghanaians.
Speaking to journalists, Mr Jinapor criticized the government’s economic management, particularly highlighting the ineffective implementation of the gold-for-oil policy.
This policy was intended to stabilize fuel prices by leveraging gold reserves, but according to Jinapor, it has failed to achieve its objectives.
“The managers of the economy have to sit up. And clearly, the Bank of Ghana is losing it. While the Bank of Ghana is spending millions of Cedis and dollars on the gold-for-oil programme, the currency is not stabilizing,” Jinapor stated.
He emphasized that the Cedi’s continued depreciation is driving up fuel prices and worsening the cost of living for Ghanaians.
“The Cedi is depreciating, fuel prices are going up, cost of living is going up, and everybody is suffering. But worst of all, wages and salaries are stagnating. Wages and salaries are not going up. The managers of the economy have lost it.”
Mr Jinapor urged Dr. Bawumia, who heads the government’s economic management team, to focus on these critical economic issues instead of engaging in political debates.
“I think that Dr. Bawumia, instead of calling for a debate, should rather spend some time concentrating on managing the economy. He should stop the unnecessary call for a debate, do his work as the head of the economic management team and ensure that we deal with the ever-rising cost of fuel.”
tigpost.co