The Economic Management Team of the administration, according to Cassiel Ato Forson, Member of Parliament for the Central Region’s Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Constituency.
By advocating such viewpoint, he concurred with Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, who recently blamed Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the nation’s issues.
By legislation, Bawumia is in charge of the EMT.
According to Ato Forson, Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, “the Economic management team, headed by Bawumia and assisted by the finance minister and the entire government,” is to blame for Ghana’s inflation.
Ato Forson has been one of the most vocal and critical voices of the New Patriotic Party’s handling of the economy amid an economic downturn that has forced government to seek a programme with the International Monetary Fund, IMF.
The Ghana Statistical Service, GSS, recently announced that consumer inflation for August 2022 hit 33.9% from 31.7% in July.
This is the highest rate that has been recorded in 21 years. According to the GSS, food and transportation were the main drivers of inflation.
Ato Forson described the 21-year high rate of inflation as “terrible”. He wrote on his Twitter page on September 14, 2022: “inflation likely to hit 40% in November 2022 if the 30% increment in fares starts on September 21, 2022.”
According to him, even though the Vice President rode on the back of coming to solve the problems of the country, he is rather doing the opposite by creating problems.
Professor Hanke’s comment comes on the back of the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi.
“#Ghana’s VP Bawumia says he’s “into politics to help people solve problems.” SPOILER ALERT: Bawumia is the one CREATING the problems. Today, I measure GHA’s inflation at a stunning 81%/yr, nearly 2.5 TIMES the official rate,” he tweeted on September 20.
Professor Hanke who has taken a keen interest on economic issues of Ghana in a separate tweet said Ghana’s economy was tanking – an expression which means the economy is down and there are fears of a recession.
He has in the past blamed the Akufo-Addo-led administration for putting the economy in a dire situation.
“Ghana is in 8th place in this week’s inflation table. On Sep 8, I measured Ghana’s #inflation at a stunning 81%/yr–over 2x the official inflation rate of 34%/yr. #Ghana’s economy is TANKING. To rein in inflation, GHA must install a currency board,” he tweeted on September 19.
“Today, I measure #Ghana’s inflation at 81%/yr. As a result, Ghanaians don’t know the price of anything anymore. When Ghanaians see their grocery bills soar, they can thank Pres. Akufo-Addo,” Prof Hanke added.