NPP on 2010 Budget

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THE 2010 BUDGET STATEMENT IN PERSPECTIVE
(ENKO YIE BUDGET)
 
In June 2009, five months after the NDC assumed office, the NDC Government gave the following testimony about the NPP's economic management in its “Memorandum of Financial and Economic Policy, 2009 – 2012”:

 
“ Real GDP growth increased steadily from 3.7 percent in 2000 to 7.3 percent in 2008. This growth was fostered by significant debt relief which provided the country with fiscal space to embark on critical infrastructure investments, particularly in the energy and road sectors, as well as targeted social spending, all under the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS).

 
The combination of higher output growth, declining inflation, and improved social spending under the GPRS framework contributed significantly to lower poverty levels. The national incidence of poverty declined from 39.5 percent in 1998/99 to 28.5 percent in 2005/06. At this rate, Ghana is poised to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving extreme poverty ahead of 2015.”

 
In spite of this impressive legacy from the previous administration, the NDC government, after managing the economy for ten months, has reported disappointing results in the 2010 Budget Statement. The following are two important examples:

 
The impressive economic expansion of 7.3% (the highest in thirty years) achieved in 2008 under the NPP Government has been reversed! Under the NDC, Ghana's economy only grew by 4.7% in 2009. This means economic activities and the creation of jobs have slowed down badly, and explain the many complains about increasing unemployment in the country. A growth rate of 4.7% was achieved as far back as 2002 (seven years ago). Instead of building on the economic growth of 2008, we are rather moving backwards.

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DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
ii. An average inflation of 19.9% over the last ten months has also been reported. Yet public sector wages increased by 5% to 17% in 2009 depending on the public sector workers involved. This means real wages of workers have been reduced in the last ten months, making public servants poorer.

 
And on top of all these, the cost of living has been rising sharply in the last ten months, fuelled by high fuel prices among others. Yet, the 2010 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the NDC Government does not contain any clear strategies to create jobs and reduce the cost of living. It is getting increasingly clear that this government lacks ideas.

 
The Mills Administration needs to cut back on huge expenditures on the multitude of committees and commissions, and sit up. It is government's inability to deliver on its promises and do something about the worsening cost of living that has reduced its officials to people who take advantage of every public appearance to complain about the economy they inherited. Is this not the same economy they themselves have given impressive testimony about?

 
Ghanaians want better life, and the earlier this government sat up and delivered, the better it would be for this country.

 
Kwaku Kwarteng
Communications Director