The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed the reason for the current economic mess the country is going through.
According to the renowned economist, Ghana’s current predicament is self inflicted.
Speaking at the Standard Chartered Digital Banking Innovation & Fintech Festival in Accra, the Vice President said over-dependence on foreign products is a major contributor to the decline of the economy.
He went on to intimate that the government is currently experiencing never-before trade surpluses that make it near impossible to turn the economy around without the help of the general citizenry.
“The nature of production needs to change. You are seeing Ghana, consistently over the last five years, having more and more trade surpluses. This is like for the first time in about twenty years that we’ve consistently had trade surpluses on our balance of payments. At the same time, we have a lot of current accounts deficits, which means that a lot of the foreign exchange that we are earning from our trade doesn’t stay in Ghana.”
“And one of the areas where we have to address is to reduce the import dependency that we have as a country. But as the global economy is going to realign to the new reality with more self-reliance, Ghana cannot be left behind. We also have to look very closely at how we enhance domestic production and reduce dependence on imports for commodities that we can very easily produce here in Ghana.”
Ghana remains a major importer of food products, with imports of agricultural and related products estimated to have reached $1.9 billion in 2021 alone.
Relatedly, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to address Ghanaians on the failing economy on October 30.
This comes after incessant calls by Ghanaians on the President to address the nation on the economic challenges.
According to Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister for Information, a cabinet retreat on the economy will be held today and on Friday and the President will deliver his address on Sunday.
Pulse
