Current Economic Difficulties Will Be Addressed - President Akufo-Addo Assures

The president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has reassured the populace once more that his administration is committed to providing relief for Ghanaians and restoring the economy to the high rates of growth that prevailed during the three years prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

President Akufo-Addo claims that "in recent times, we have been witnessing significant difficulties in the management of the national economy, primarily as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, which has been made worse by the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

But he said that "the fundamental commitment to finding solutions to these problems within the context of due process and democratic institutions must remain unwavering. And I have faith that we will succeed in overcoming these obstacles, God willing.

This was announced by the President yesterday when he gave the opening remarks at the Ghana Bar Association's annual bar conference.

He was sure that "we will overcome our current economic issues with the same blend of commitment, energy, and suitable policy" after recalling the resolve, decisive action, and proper policy that saw the government win the battle against COVID-19.

President Akufo-Addo described how his administration took office during the implementation of an IMF-backed economic program and was able to not only successfully steer the nation out of the program but also create, in the first three years of his first mandate, one of the world's fastest-growing economies at an average annual GDP growth rate of 7% in 2017, 2018, and 2019, just before the onset of COVID-19.

"We'll repeat that. In reality, the recovery from COVID-19 seemed to be on track in the last quarter of 2021 when our economy increased by 7%, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the first quarter of this year exacerbated our problems. We're going to beat them," he continued.

Ghanaians' reassurance

President Akufo-Addo stated at the 22nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church that the approach to the IMF was a significant step, in the short term, towards the aim of providing relief to Ghanaians.

To address the unacceptable devaluation of the cedi, more measures will be adopted, in particular. The government is quite concerned about reducing food costs in order to control inflation, so maybe the season's emerging, the prosperous crop will help us achieve this goal. In order to assist in lower food prices in the cities, plans are being formed with market women—the so-called "market queens"—to offer trucks to transport food from rural markets to urban centres.

As we swiftly move forward with our plans to create an organic fertiliser factory in Ghana, we are urging firms who make inorganic fertilizers to ramp up production to lessen the impact of their high cost and scarcity.