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The people of Ghana have once again been reassured by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, that their government is committed to providing relief for the Ghanaian people and restoring the economy to the high rates of growth that it experienced in the three (3) years prior to the COVID outbreak in 2020.
President Akufo-Addo claims that “in recent times, we have been witnessing significant difficulties in the management of the national economy, primarily as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, which has been made worse by the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
He stated, however, that “the basic commitment to resolving these challenges, within the framework of due process and democratic institutions, must remain unshaken. And, I am confident that, God-willing, we will overcome these challenges.”
The President announced this on Monday, September 12, 2022, when he gave the opening remarks at the Ghana Bar Association’s annual bar conference.
He was optimistic that “we will overcome our current economic issues with the same mixture of commitment, energy, and suitable policy” after recalling the resolve, decisive action, and proper policy that saw the Government winning the war against COVID-19.
President Akufo-Addo described how his administration took office during the implementation of an IMF-sponsored economic program and was able to not only successfully steer the nation out of the program but also create, in the first three years of his first mandate, one of the world’s fastest growing economies at an average annual GDP growth rate of seven percent (7%) in 2017, 2018, and 2019. This was before the onset of COVID-19.
“We will do so again. In fact, in the last quarter of 2021, the recovery from COVID-19 appeared to be on course, when our economy grew at seven percent (7%), only for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the first quarter of this year to exacerbate our challenges. We will overcome them,” he stated.
Relief to Ghanaians
It will be recalled that at the 22nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, President Akufo-Addo noted that the approach to the IMF is a major step, in the short-run, towards the goal of bringing relief to Presbyterian Church.
“Other steps will be taken, in particular, to deal with the unacceptable depreciation of the cedi. Reining in inflation, by bringing down food prices, is a major preoccupation of the Government, and, hopefully, this season’s emerging, successful harvest will assist us in this regard. Arrangements are being made with market women, the market queens of popular parlance, to provide trucks to evacuate food stuffs from rural markets to urban centres to help reduce food prices in the cities,” the President said.
He continued, “We are encouraging companies engaged in the manufacture of inorganic fertilisers to scale-up production to reduce the impact of the high cost and unavailability of fertilisers, whist we advance rapidly our plans to establish an organic fertilizer plant in Ghana.”
The President added that the GH 100 billion Ghana Cares “Obaatampa” Program, which is currently being implemented, anchors promising medium-term possibilities for post-COVID economic recovery and revitalisation.
“I continue to have an unwavering faith in God to help restore the fortunes of our country, especially with appropriate policy, tenacity, and hard work on our part,” he continued. “I urge all of you gathered here to have that same belief that the fortunes of Ghana under the Presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be restored.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
