Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has told his fellow Ghanaians that their nation is in economic crisis.
He made this known in his address to the nation on Sunday night, October 30, 2022.
In the address delivered from the Jubilee House, the seat of Government in Accra, Mr. Akufo-Addo said
“We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time.”
According to him, “But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems, but the long-term structural problems that have bedevilled our economy.”
He said: “The whole world has been taken aback by the speed with which inflation has eaten away people’s incomes. Economies, big and small, have experienced, over this year alone, the highest rise in the cost of living over a generation; the highest rise in government borrowing in over 50 years; the highest rise in inflation for 40 years; the steepest depreciation in their currencies to the US dollar over the last thirty (30) years; the fastest peak in interest rates for over 20 years; and the greatest threat of unemployment in peacetime; with over a hundred million people being pushed into extreme poverty.”
The President added that
“Between the end of 2019 and now, inflation in Ghana has increased by five-fold, in Togo by sixteen-fold, by eleven-fold in Senegal, and by seven-fold in Cote d’Ivoire. In truth, however, the fact that there are petrol queues in France does not make it more tolerable that the trotro price from Kasoa to Circle has doubled in the past year, nor does it make it any more tolerable that the price of cooking oil goes up every other week.”
Mr. Akufo-Addo says “It is important to state that mentioning the increases in prices worldwide is not meant to belittle the scope of suffering here, but simply to help us put things into some perspective, and, hopefully, learn some useful lessons about how other people are coping.”
According to him, “Fellow Ghanaians, this is why I am back in your homes this evening to ask for your support, as we work together to get our economy back into good shape.
In April, after the Cabinet retreat of the first quarter, and recognising the deteriorating macroeconomy, my government announced a 30 per cent cut in budgeted discretionary expenditures, and a 30 per cent cut in salaries of the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs and political office holders, amongst other measures.
And, since July, when the Government took the difficult decision to go to the IMF to seek support, I have been speaking publicly at different fora on the subject of the economic difficulties we face, especially during my recent tours, so far, of nine regions, and interacting directly with you, the Ghanaian people. It is also true that many of you have felt the need for me to come back to the Fellow Ghanaians format, that brings us all together.”
He says “For us, in Ghana, our reality is that our economy is in great difficulty. The budget drawn for the 2022 fiscal year has been thrown out of gear, disrupting our balance of payments and debt sustainability, and further exposing the structural weaknesses of our economy.”
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