The Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central Constituency and Spokesperson on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Manifesto on the Economy, Isaac Adongo has strongly defended the NDC’s ambitious $10 billion ‘Big Push’ infrastructure agenda, aimed at rapid infrastructure development and job creation.
In a compelling statement, the NDC legislator highlighted the significant role of the private sector in economic development and criticized the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government’s approach to managing Ghana’s economy.
Honourable Isaac Adongo emphasized that given the current economic challenges and budgetary constraints, the government must create a conducive environment for the private sector to thrive.
“Given the rigidities in our budget. Given the challenges within the fiscal environment. You’d want to encourage your private sector to be a key player and a partner to the government. The role of government is to set a congenial environment that allows the private sector to thrive”.
Honourable Issac Adongo, Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central Constituency and Spokesperson on NDC Manifesto on the Economy
He argued that the private sector is better positioned than the public sector to create sustainable and decent jobs, noting that the public sector workforce, which numbers just over 760,000, already consumes a significant portion of the budget.
According to him, there is a limit to how much the government can do to create sustainable jobs, underscoring the critical need for the government to leverage the capabilities of the private sector to drive economic growth and job creation.
Justification for the $10 Billion Investment
Highlighting the significance of the NDC’s proposed $10 billion investment in infrastructure, Honourable Isaac Adongo, who also serves as the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament cited a 2015 research paper by the African Development Bank to buttress his argument.
He pointed out that the African Development Bank’s research report urged Ghana to invest an average of $2 billion annually to eliminate its infrastructure deficit and enhance competitiveness.
He pointed out that the NDC’s previous administration, under former President John Dramani Mahama initiated several capital projects in response to these findings.
“In 2016, you saw John Mahama doing a lot of capital projects. It was in response to the African Development Bank’s research findings. After 8 years of expenditure being skewed in favour of consumption under the current administration, we have seen that we now need to scale up further, and that’s why we are doing $2.5000000000 a year over a 4-year period, which gives $10,000,000,000”.
Honourable Issac Adongo, Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central Constituency and Spokesperson on NDC Manifesto on the Economy
Track Record and Comparison with NPP
Moreover, Honourable Isaac Adongo challenged the NPP’s infrastructure track record, contrasting it with the achievements of the National Democratic Congress’s erstwhile administration under former President Mahama.
He cited the construction of the Atuabo Gas Plant worth $1.5 billion, Terminal 3 at Kotoka International Airport and the efforts of GRIDCo in retooling the energy sector as examples of successful public-sector-led projects with private-sector thinking.
Critique of NPP’s Economic Strategies
Additionally, Honourable Isaac Adongo dismissed any comparisons between the NDC’s and NPP’s economic strategies, stating, “Don’t be comparing apples with mangoes. We are far, far ahead of the current NPP government.”
He also criticized the NPP’s handling of the economy, particularly its reliance on consumption-based expenditure and its controversial ‘Gold for Oil’ policy as a strategy to manage the exchange rate.
He argued that the next NDC administration’s approach would focus on fixing the agricultural sector, which he claims is responsible for 60% of Ghana’s exchange rate problems due to the high importation of food.
“Our strategy to deal with the exchange rate is not gold for oil. Our strategy is that we are aware that 60% of our exchange problem is coming from agriculture. So what we will do is to fix agriculture to stop the importation of food into our country so that we deal with the exchange rate.”
Honourable Issac Adongo, Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central Constituency and Spokesperson on NDC Manifesto on the Economy
He further elaborated on the NDC’s plan for aggressive industrialization through a 24-hour economy, which would expand production, conserve foreign currency, and effectively address the exchange rate challenges.
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