President John Dramani Mahama has taken a swipe at some economists over the state of Ghana’s economy, saying they don’t really understand the dynamics.
“With every payment and expenditure we are making, this economy is more resilient and more disciplined because we are using the avenues worth collecting. We are not going to the Central Bank and borrowing money from the Central Bank.
“I just want economists to take note of that. And so when you are talking about an economy in crisis, an economy that is self-reliant, is not going to the Central Bank and taking money is more resilient than one that goes to the Central Bank to take money to pay salaries.”
President Mahama’s outburst follows a challenge by some economists to an earlier assertion of his that the economy is resilient given its disposition in the face of global crunch.
The economists contested the president’s description of Ghana’s economy as resilient, saying it is rather in decline and the president was not painting a good picture of the real situation.
But speaking on Ho-based Volta Star on Thursday, April 21 as part of the ‘Accounting to the People’ tour of the Volta Region, President Mahama said figures of the gross domestic product (GDP) over the last three years show that the economy is growing – especially on the macro-economic front.
“There are many signs that show that the economy is doing much better.
“But if you don’t believe me as your president and you believe outsiders, then let me give you the World Bank’s last update of April 12, 2016.”
In quoting the World Bank’s report, President Mahama said the average growth rate projected for Africa is 3.3 per cent.
“So, if we are growing at 5.2, then definitely we are growing far above Africa’s average.”
‘Zero extra bank finance’
He said Ghana is still expecting final projection figures, which are likely to see the country’s economy growing by almost 4.0 per cent.
He added that currently the country is on zero extra bank financing, a marked departure from the past when governments had a 10 per cent ceiling of financial buffer from the Bank of Ghana.
This he said has been enforced as a result of the external credit facility (ECF) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|tv3network.com|Ghana
Twitter: @kwame_amoh