The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr. John Kwakye has stated that the economic growth under the New Patriotic Party in its first term – between 2017 and 2019 – was immense. He asserted that all key microeconomic indicators were trending in the right direction.
Dr. John Kwakye argued that while the global scene was conducive for economic growth, the government also adopted policies that contributed to the country’s economic growth. He asserted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme which the government continued also contributed to the country’s economic growth.
“We all admit the Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war disrupting supply chains around the world which pushed up oil and food prices and it affected every country so naturally, Ghana also suffered as a result.”
Dr. John Kwakye
Accordingly, Dr. John Kwakye argued that within the period of 2020-2022, the Energy Sector payment made by the government coupled with the financial bailout cost brought Ghana’s economy to its knees. He asserted that the government’s irresponsible large-scale borrowing both locally and internationally is also a contributing factor.
The Director of Research at IEA also attributed Ghana’s economic woes to the inability of the government to generate revenue domestically. He claimed that government also spent massively on its flagship projects within this period (2020-2022).
Dr. John Kwakye asserted that the NPP-led government should take credit for its bad performance within the period of 2020-2022 like it took credit for its good economic fortunes with the period of 2017-2019. He argued that other governments take responsibility for their role in Ghana’s economic fortune, good or bad.
“You cannot say that, oh you know this time around it was all due to covid, it was all due to Ukraine-Russia war and that I didn’t do anything wrong. Yes we must admit that extraordinary factors played a part but there were also some domestic policy failings that must be recognized.”
Dr. John Kwakye
Politics and Fact Checking
Consequently, Dr. John Kwakye argued non-political entities and individuals must make it their mandate to educate the public on the issues of public relevance. He argued that setting the records straight regarding issues such as this enables Ghanaians to make their own judgment based on actual facts.
Furthermore, Dr. John Kwakye accused politicians of skewing figures in their favor. He argued that the NPP is not the only political party guilty of this act, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is guilty of this charge as well.
More so, Dr. Kwakye argued that Ghana’s bad economic fortune should be attributed to the government’s inability to broaden the tax net. He suggested that the government should fill the loopholes in the tax system and stop increasing taxes.
“Dr. Bawumia himself in his speech said that, our tax to GDP ratio is just about 13% and the World Bank estimated that we could double that just by increasing the efficiency of our revenue collection and taking allied measures”.
Dr. John Kwakye
Moreover, Dr. John Kwakye argued that Ghana suffered severely from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war than other countries because Ghana went into these crisis with more severe vulnerabilities than its peers did. These vulnerabilities he argued, are as a result of domestic crisis build up prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Dr. John Kwakye’s remark came after the Vice President’s comment that implied that Ghana’s economic crisis is entirely due to external factors like Covid-19 and not administrative failure from the government. He opined that government cannot blame external factors only as there were underlying internal conditions to be attributed to the country’s economic existing disaster.
Conclusively, many non-political entities and individuals have shared their bit on what, they think, the actual causes of Ghana’s bad economic fortunes are. A common theme that runs through the observations of these non-political entities and individuals is the undeniable role of government in the country’s current economic crisis. These observations are coupled with possible recourses to be taken by government to put Ghana’s economy back on its feet.
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