Before the recent lecture on the economy of Ghana Dr Bawumia delivered, some people, including senior lecturers and professors, had expressed various views (positively and negatively) on the state of country’s economy.

Since the lecture given by the Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, various opinions have been expressed on his presentation, some of them praising him for a good work done while others, as usual, saw nothing good about what he said or the issues discussed on that day.

PUBLIC REACTIONS

The reaction of the general public, however, showed that in spite of the difficulties the country faced, the Vice President and Head of Ghana’s economic team did well and dealt with all the relevant issues the country is facing.

He began by stating that he was going to deal with the state of the economy, pointing out that there were problems or difficulties but measures had been put in place to ensure that the economy of Ghana was cushioned soundly from collapse.

In talking about the state of the economy, Dr. Bawumia referred to the economic problems Ghana as a country faced prior to the swearing-in of President Akufo-Addo. He went on to explain that in spite of the difficulties, measures were in place to ensure reduction in inflation, elimination of a number of taxes, developing the economy along internally induced growth, among others.

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

The economy of Ghana today faces a number of problems including rising prices of goods and services. The rising prices have come about because of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected every part of the world. Indeed, goods cannot be easily transported from different parts of the world to other places where they are needed thereby bringing about shortages in some cases.

Generally, the supply of goods and services have been in short supply but even in situations where such goods and services are not in short supply, it can be seen that the cost of transportation alone has shot up tremendously.

COST PUSH AND DEMAMD PULL INFLATION

This high cost of transportation accounts for rising prices, that is, cost push inflation. In cost push inflation, rising prices of transportation when added to the prices of goods and services further push up prices.

Similarly, in situations where the supply of goods and services are less than expected or fall below general demand, what happens is that demand exceeds supply and pushes up prices. This comes under what is known as “demand pull inflation.”

Both demand pull and cost push inflation are responsible for the rising prices in the country. From this observation, one can say that the unfavourable economic situation in the country, in the form of rising prices, is not the making of the Akufo-Addo administration. The situation has come about because of factors beyond the reach of all Ghanaians.

All countries in the world are going through difficult economic times so this is the period for all analysts to be objective and fair in their discussion of issues in Ghana today. We should be very grateful that the economic management style of the government has not thrown things overboard but rather made it possible for the people of Ghana to go about their normal duties, even in the midst of some difficulties.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Until the world, including Ghana, was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, things were moving on smoothly in Ghana. Inflation, which was initially at 15.4 per cent or thereabout was reduced to about seven per cent. Similarly, agricultural output also increased tremendously from negative levels to appreciable levels even though there was still room for improvement.

With the arrival of COVID-19,everything was thrown overboard and countries that did not have resilient economies fell onto great trouble and experienced food shortages. Fortunately, due to Ghana’s laudable programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs), the country became self-sufficient and even exported food items to neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Côte d’ivoire among other countries. Had it not been for this programme, things would’ve been worse than we see today.

We have food stuffs all over the country but there is room for improvement in the sense that we need to construct more roads to link up with communities that are producing food for the country. Without this, not much can be achieved in terms of food production. A network of good roads is, therefore, needed in all parts of the country to enhance agricultural production.

At the same time, we need to regulate the supply and export of our food stuffs to neighbouring countries so that Ghanaians will also not run out of food supplies. Fortunately, the Government of Ghana had realised this and banned the export of maize and soya to neighbouring countries until the situation improves in Ghana. It is equally important to note that the economic problems experienced in the world today have come about because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Many finished products come from that part of the world. The products are fertilisers and other important products needed in the agricultural sector.

ADVERSE CONFLICT

The conflict has, therefore, contributed adversely to other parts of the world including Ghana.

We are happy that the economy of Ghana is able to support itself today and is far from collapse.

With the pandemic moving away, it is strongly believed that all the economic programmes and measures put in place would begin to yield results needed and make the economy a strong one. This means that there will be reduced inflation and more income can be generated from various sectors of the economy to finance its expenditure. Similarly, we can also reduce the rate of exchange with other foreign currencies to make the economy a strong one. Individuals should have confidence in the economy of Ghana and believe in what was presented by Dr. Bawumia

From all indications, the measures taken by Ghana are good and that is why the developed countries of the world have expressed confidence in the economy of Ghana.

DIGITALISATION

Digitalisation is good if for nothing at all, it helps to eradicate corruption and make it easy for goods and services to be accessed without difficulty. For this reason, digitisation coupled with the relevant economic policies will go a long way to enhance rapid growth in all parts of the country so that the ultimate result will be improved upon in the interest of everyone.

Ghana is a great nation so we all need to work hard and support the government to make it possible for economic activities to flourish and improve upon the welfare of everyone in this noble country.

Contact email/whatsApp address of author:

Pradmat2013@gmail.com (0553318911)

By Dr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako