The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has promised to put Ghana’s economy back on track if given the nod as President of the country.
He said the NDC is endowed with potential men and women who have the ability to turn the country’s economic misfortunes around.
According to him, the next NDC government, when voted back into office, will put the economy back on a sound footing.
Speaking to students of the Sefwi Wiaso Nurses Training College, John Dramani Mahama attributed the hike in fuel prices, foodstuffs, among others, to the mismanagement of the economy by the Akufo-Addo-led government.
“I met some drivers, and they apologized to me for voting me out. A gallon of petrol during my time was GH¢14, but now it’s above … or more; I can’t even tell. All these things are a result of the mismanaged economy.
“We buy fuel with dollars, so if the economy is not managed well and the dollar-to-cedi rate is lower, the prices of goods and services will decrease, but because the economy has been mismanaged, petrol is expensive. The NDC has the men and women to manage the economy very well. When we come back to power, we will ensure we make life better for you people,” he stated.
It would be recalled that the local economy took a nose dive after it was hit with the global pandemic – the Coronavirus – and the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War.
The governing New Patriotic Party, however, put in measures to make the economy more robust to withstand any shock; locally or internationally.
As part of measures to fix the broken economy, the government run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a US$3 billion financial bailout programme.
Subsequently, a team from the IMF arrived in the country from July 6 to July 13, 2022, to engage Ghanaian authorities on a possible economic support programme.
A staff-level agreement between the government of Ghana and the IMF was reached in December 2022.
On May 17, 2023, IMF’s executive board approved Ghana’s $3 billion loan facility.