TIG Post

Tag: Mona Quartey

  • Uncertainty over Ofori-Atta’s future causing cedi depreciation – Mona Quartey

    A former Deputy Finance Minister, Mona Quartey, has attributed the continuous free fall of the cedi to the uncertainty of the future of Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

    According to Mona Quartey, even though several factors have contributed to the depreciation of the cedi, the continuous stay in office of the Finance Minister, whose policies have failed domestically, has eroded the confidence of investors in the Ghanaian economy.

    “There is no doubt that the cedi depreciation is based on uncertainty, and part of the uncertainty is the future of us maintaining the Finance Minister. The world and the markets are looking and wondering why we would continue to keep a Finance team that has implemented economic policies that have failed domestically. So that uncertainty is feeding into the depreciation rate,” Mrs Quartey said on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.

    The cedi has lost over 50% of its value since January 2022.

    The former Deputy Finance Minister also noted that the current inflation figure is a clear indication that Ghana is back in HIPC times.

    “[The current inflation rate] is the highest since July 2001 during HIPC times. So there is no doubt that we are back in HIPC times. There is no doubt that we are in dire times, and we are all feeling it in our pockets,” Mrs. Quartey told host Umaru Sanda Amadu.

    Ghana’s inflation rate hit an all-time high of 40.4 per cent for the month of October 2022.

    This was captured in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.

    Per the data, food and non-food inflation also rose to hit 43.7 percent and 37.8 percent respectively.

    Source: Citinews

  • IMF has discovered lies in data from Economic Management Team – Mona Quartey alleges

    Former Deputy Finance Minister, Mona Quartey, has alleged that officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have discovered some inaccuracies in the macro-economic figures presented by government’s economic management team.

    According to her, this revelation raises credibility issues which can potentially affect the outcome of Ghana’s ongoing engagements with the IMF.

    Contributing to discussions on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, the former NDC appointee, expressed her displeasure about the conduct of the economic management team.

    “There has to be a change of the economic management team. This team is no longer credible. This is a team that has lied, not only to the people of Ghana outside your party, but they’ve also lied to you [Akufo-Addo]. And the IMF has found them out. The numbers they gave; the macro-economic numbers they gave were not correct”, she said.

    Noting her reservations, the finance expert wondered why the President has refused to sack the members of the economic management team, whom she stressed, have failed in the discharge of their responsibilities.

    She added that the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has no business being at post, after supervising the present economic decline.

    The comments by Mona Quartey come at a time when scores of Ghanaians are making passionate appeals for the Finance Minister to be sacked.

    According to his critics, Mr Ofori-Atta has failed woefully and therefore has no business being at the helm of affairs of leading Ghana’s engagements with the IMF.

    Earlier this week, this posture was articulated by some 80 MPS from the ruling government who petitioned the President for Ken Ofori-Atta to be sacked.

    Addressing a pres conference on Tuesday, the MPs threatened that they will not support any government business, if the President fails to listen to their demands.

    But in a quick turn of events, the MPs, after meeting the President backed down on their calls, aftter the President implored them to allow the Finance Minister to finish the ongoing negotiations with the IMF and presentation of the 2023 Budget Statement.

    Touching on this development, Mona Quartey said she is disappointed by the posture of the said MPs.

    Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has admitted a motion of censure filed by Minority Members of Parliament to remove embattled Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

    On Tuesday, the Minority filed a motion to that effect following the Majority MP’s demands to have the Finance Minister and the Minister of State in charge of Finance at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen dismissed.

    According to them, Mr. Ofori-Atta is incompetent and is to blame for the current economic woes of Ghanaians.

    Speaking to JoyNews, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said they are hopeful by 10th November, they can conclude processes to remove the Finance Minister.

    Source: MyJoyOnline

  • ‘What kind of person quotes the Bible yet hurls insults in a ‘Kasantwi’ budget’ Mona Quartey to Ofori-Atta

    The 2020 budget statement presented before Parliament by Ghana’s Bible-chomping Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was full of innuendoes and veiled insults targeted at the leadership of the erstwhile Mahama administration, a former Deputy Minister of Finance Mrs. Mona Quartey has said.

    She wondered how Mr Ofori-Atta could, with one tongue, copiously quote The Scriptures during his presentation of the budget on Wednesday, 13 November 2019 while at the same time use the same tongue to hurl insults at the former administration.

    55,000 nurses recruited Ofori-Atta

    Responding to a comment by Mr Ofori-Atta: “If you add the cost of cleaning the financial sector challenges in addition to the long list of legacy bills that the Akufo-Addo government had to settle, the cost to the Ghanaian taxpayer is around GHS33 billion”, Mrs Mona Quartey, who was a member of the Mahama government, retorted: “That is so deceitful”.

    “Honestly”, she asked, “How can you talk about a Mahama legacy debt when this nation has been ruling itself since 1957 and each government hands over debt to the next one?”

    “So, it will be very unfair to just put it like that; and that is one of the things I’d like to mention when you talk about the general budget: One, the budget was a ‘Kasantwi’ budget, where there was a constant insulting of the former government. You don’t do that”, she said, stressing: “One government hands over to the other”.

    “Again”, she emphasised, “While you were doing all that so-called ‘kasantwi’, you were also throwing the name of Jesus and God into the budget”, she pointed out, wondering: “What kind of person does that kind of thing?”

    “You insult with one mouth and then you invoke the name of Jesus with the same mouth, throwing Scripture into it. Let us be serious about our budget; our budget is a very important tool…”, she urged.

    2020 Budget Statement and Economic Policy by The Independent Ghana on Scribd

    Source: classfmonline.com