Campaign coordinator of the National Democratic Congress says President John Mahama’s foundation which took almost eight years to lay is so strong it can never crumble.
Kofi Adams insists that despite the plummeting prices in oil on the world market, Ghana’s economy has been stable thus far.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Monday, the Coordinator, who is also the Deputy General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress said unlike Angola’s economy which has crumbled as a result of a fall in oil prices, Ghana’s economy remains buoyant.
He made the comment on the back of a colourful manifesto launch, Saturday, during which key members of the NDC took turns to give an account of the NDC performance in the last eight years.
“In the past when someone sneezes somewhere, you catch cold, now we have laid the foundation such that if you like, you can catch the most infectious cold, if you like you can cough the whole day, our economy can stand on its feet.
“A lot of economies are crushing and collapsing, he said, adding, “We have just made huge investment in the oil industry, then the price drops, but still we are on our feet and growing at the rate we are growing,” he said.
He said even Saudi Arabia is bearing the brunt of the crisis as other nationals have been forced to live on food aids provided by their home countries.
Ghana’s challenged economy is under the care of a three year IMF program, as government hopes to obtain policy credibility for its programs.
The economy over the last three years has seen a slump in growth rate down from 7.4% in 2013, to a projected 4.2% in 2016.
Inflation has been in double digits up to about 17. % in 2015 and is now hovering at 16% in 2016.
From a 12.2% budget deficit in 2012, which forced Ghana to seek help from the IMF, the budget deficit has seen some improvement and its hovering around 6% of GDP in 2016.
The New Patriotic Party has berated the government for what it says is the government’s poor performance in handling the economy, but Kofi Adams is adamant.
He said the strides made in infrastructure by the government is unprecedented citing the establishment of the Komenda Sugar factory and the Kumasi Shoe factory as some of the signature achievements president Mahama will be remembered for.
The Campaign spokesperson Joyce Bawa Mogtari also applauded government’s fight against corruption.
She dismissed assertion government used sole sourcing as a vehicle to plunder the country of its limited resources.
“Sole sourcing is not a crime,” she said adding, the procurement law gives room for projects to be sole sourced. She applauded government for what she said is the swift manner in which government dealt with the bus branding saga, a project which was sole sourced.
“A whole minister had to resign,” she pointed out and the monies involved were refunded to the state she added.
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