Financial Analyst, Kofi Arkaah, has expressed scepticism regarding the consistent claims made by government officials that Ghana’s economy has turned the corner.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his Christmas message on December 25, 2023, and the 2024 budget announcement, indicated a positive economic shift after three challenging years.
In an interview on Citi TV’s “The Point of View,” Arkaah proposed that Ghana’s economy is presently in a stabilization phase, questioning the extent to which it has genuinely turned around.
“No, I don’t think Ghana’s economy has turned the corner. Ghana’s economy is in a period of stabilization and that stabilization will take the next three years. Ghana’s growth rate is 2.8%, Ghana’s population growth rate is 1.9%, GDP growth rate is 2%. We are growing just below 1%. And if you look at the forecast for the next 2 to 3 years, they are the same. We are just flat to be growing a little bit,” he told host Bernard Avle.
He forecasted a potential turnaround for Ghana’s economy if fiscal policies are implemented to curb reckless borrowing and corruption following the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
“Post the IMF deal leaving and ending, if we can sustain optimal reserve ratio, but more importantly implement fiscal policies which will curb the reckless borrowing that we engaged in. And also check the systematic corruption that has occurred in Ghana over the last 7 years, then we stand a chance,” he opined.
When asked if Ghana’s challenges were more monetary or fiscal, he responded, “They were both, if you ask me, I think the primary problems came from the fiscal side. On the monetary side, the central bank has its primary roles of cutting excessive spending and price stability.”
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