The Information Minister, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has stated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has an alternative when it comes to bringing the economy back on track as a result of the harmful impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Ghanaian economy.
According to Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in the last three and half years, before COVID struck, the NPP had demonstrated clearly that they had the competencies to restore macro stability, different from what they inherited from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and “the numbers speak for themselves”.
The information minister disclosed this whilst speaking on the PM express program on Wednesday,23rd September 2020.
He further stated that the NPP has a better track record when it comes to building macroeconomic stability.
“If you take the specifics; take agriculture for example, Kufuor left agriculture 7.4 percent, President Mills took it down to 0.8 percent, in 2016 they brought it to 2.9 percent and we [NPP] brought it to 4.6 percent. So, the macro numbers demonstrate clearly who has a good track record.
“If you take for example the macro numbers, take growth for instance, and is not about Mahama and Akufo Addo specifically but it’s about NPP and NDC. If you take growth, …, Kufuor was earning around 9.1 percent, President Mills did 14 percent in 2011, that was his last fiscal year.
“Mr Mahama ended up at 3.3 percent in 2016 and it’s the NPP administration that brought it back to 6.6. When you start talking macro, because you know all this conversation we are having is about who has the ability to deliver a strong macro foundation, make good fiscals out of it and use those fiscals to invest in the real sector, therefore ensuring that you have jobs, you have incomes and you have further opportunities for Ghanaian people.
“Take for example non-oil GDP, President Mills did 8.2 percent because you recall that at the time of President Kufuor, we did not have any oil GDP per se so everything was composite. President Mills did 8.2 percent, President Kufuor, because all together, did 9.1 percent”.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Speaking on NDCs promise to invest 10 billion dollars under the ‘Big Push’, he indicated that restructuring the Ghanaian economy is not just about investing 10 billion dollars in infrastructure. He added that the NDC has not disclose the source of funding for the ‘Big Push’.
“The first thing that comes to mind when talking about the ‘Big Push’ where they are even hiding the sources of funding, is what is their credibility when it comes to that conversation? It is quite clear that they lack credibility when they make similar promises to the people of Ghana, these promises by the time they were leaving power have not been touched.
“The question Ghanaians will be asking themselves is; Are these people I can even bank my hopes on? When they start talking about big pushes and all of that. Secondly, about four years ago, when they muted this whole infrastructure argument, they said they were going to set up the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) when they did, backed it by law and made the argument that it was going to be the panacea to our infrastructure problem”.
As to why the NPP did not fund the GIIF, Mr. Nkrumah is of the view that government make choices. Citing a law passed by the NDC to legalize commercial use of motorcycles which they did not legalize
“We passed the law for the Venture Trust Fund; how much did they fund it?”
He further stated the NDC need to clarify some issues under the new proposition of the ‘Big Push’. Some of the questions he believes should be answered on the new promise by the largest opposition party are;
“What happened to GIIF; is GIIF being abandoned; is it a complement to GIIF? or is it the reality that what they are seeking to do is to use GIIF to leverage and borrow?”
According to him, based on an analysis of the country’s debt position, “anybody seeking the realms of power should be mindful about generating revenues and not burdening the already burdened status of our national economy. And it is important for them to be clear on some of these things”.
However, the former deputy finance minister and MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Asiam constituency, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has stated that 7 out of the 10 billion earmarked for the ‘Big Push’ is self-financing.
Dr Forson explained that the ‘Big Push’ is one of the biggest expenditure items on the agenda of the next NDC government recognizing that there is a lot to be done as far as expenditure is concerned.
He added that relying on the medium expenditure framework of government is not enough to fill the infrastructure gap. “And that is why we, the NDC, adopted a development model called the ‘BIG PUSH’ “, he revealed.
