We acknowledge the hardships Ghanaians are going through but it’s not due to mismanagement – Ken Ofori-Atta

The Minister in charge of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has stressed that it is wrong for anyone to blame the hardships in the country on mismanagement by President Akufo-Addo’s government.

According to the Minister, the current government has not been involved in any form of gross mismanagement as is being alleged by the Minority in Parliament in their censure motion.

“Hon Co-Chairs, the current economic challenges we are experiencing in Ghana is not the outcome of mismanagement. But we acknowledge the hardships our people are going through in these difficult times,” Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said when he appeared before the ad-hoc committee set up by Parliament to probe the allegations in the censor motion of parliament on Friday.

He was responding to the allegation of ‘gross mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy, which has occasioned untold and unprecedented hardship’ as contained in the Minority’s censure motion.

In arguing his case, the Finance Minister noted that the delayed passage of revenue measures outlined in the 2022 budget had a significant impact on the economy, resulting in negative market reactions, credit rating downgrades, the narrowing of financing sources, and the eventual depreciation of the cedi.

Mr. Ofori-Atta emphasised that moving forward, the country’s overdependence on imported goods must change.

“Hon. Co-Chairs, it is time to have an honest national conversation on the patterns of expenditure as a people. Our preference for imported goods, which requires foreign exchange that we do not earn enough of, implies that our cedi will continue to be under pressure,” the Finance Minister cautioned.

As reported by ModernGhana News, the Bank of Ghana has decided that it will not be providing forex for importers of rice, poultry, toothpicks, vegetable picks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles, and others which, with intensified government support and that of the banking sector, can be manufactured and produced in sufficient quantities in Ghana.