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.
NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY
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.
