You've Failed To Take Responsibility For 'Sorry Economy' – Iddrisu Tells Akufo-Addo | General News

The minority caucus in parliament has mentioned President Nana Akufo-Addo didn't take accountability for the financial mess throughout his nationwide deal with to the state on Sunday, 30 October 2022.

Even although the president assured Ghanaians that there can be no haircuts on their investments, the minority caucus insists there would.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, 1 November 2022, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu mentioned: “We are giving you only 14 days from today, and you will hear from them publicly, efforts to restructure our unsustainable debt, and those efforts will necessarily include a sika mpɛ dede baba [mallam] for many persons who have investments and savings in some instruments.”

“Those of you who listen to [Kristalina] Georgieva of the IMF, you will recall a few months ago when the World Bank and the IMF, particularly led by its Managing Director, were again categorical that they didn’t see anything wrong with Government policy. We now state that there is everything wrong with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government and his economic management team’s policy on borrowing. Borrowing is a policy. You decide to borrow and how much to borrow and where to direct the borrowing. So, if you now borrow to the level of debt distress, to the level of unsustainable debt, to the level that you are now talking about ratio of 105% of GDP as your debt level and then he, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the president of the Republic, added that he hopes that Ghana’s debt-to-GDP will improve to 55% by 2028, we ask the question, where will he be?” M Iddrisu added.

He famous: “As a minority group, we believe the president failed to accept responsibility that he is responsible for the sorry state of the Ghanaian economy, and he is responsible for the wrench economy which has consequences on livelihoods”.

“Poverty has exacerbated, cost of living has gone high, cost of doing business has gone high, many businesses are folding up, and some industries are now re-routing their investments into neighbouring Ivory Coast and other countries because Ghana is no longer the investment haven as it should be.”

Read the president’s full speech beneath:

ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, ON THE ECONOMY, ON SUNDAY, 30TH OCTOBER 2022.

Fellow Ghanaians, good night.

Back in 2020, on the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, I began a daily dialog with you that got here to be popularly generally known as Fellow Ghanaians.

It was a time of nice worry of the unknown, and the complete world felt in danger. I got here into your houses frequently to let you know what the specialists have been discovering concerning the virus, and what we should always do.

Now that we've got seen the worst of the COVID-19, I can let you know that there have been moments throughout these instances after I was distraught, there have been moments after I was in despair concerning the obvious inadequacy of our well being services, and there have been moments after I questioned if the dire predictions made about lifeless our bodies on our streets would really occur.

But I knew that I owed it to all of us that, as your president, I needed to maintain my nerve, present management and take us out of the disaster. With your assist and help, and the nice mercies of the Almighty, we will say that we emerged from the ravages of the pandemic with one of many lowest mortality charges globally. In truth, Ghana’s dealing with of the pandemic gained common acclaim.

We might all see in actual time the devastation that was being wreaked on economies throughout the pandemic, however I doubt that anybody imagined the extent of the harm. Our economic system, right here in Ghana, like many, many others across the globe, was thrown into turmoil.

When I mentioned, on the peak of the COVID pandemic, that we knew what to do to deliver the economic system again to life, however not tips on how to deliver individuals again to life, it was not mentioned in jest. We had carried out it earlier than, and we have been on target to doing it once more. Ghana’s economic system grew by a outstanding 5.4% in 2021, signifying a powerful restoration from the 0.5% progress recorded the earlier yr because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In truth, within the final quarter of 2021, our economic system grew at seven p.c (7%), just for the Russian invasion of Ukraine within the first quarter of this yr to worsen the results of COVID-19, and plunge the worldwide economic system into even higher turmoil from which it has not but recovered.

The complete world has been shocked by the velocity with which inflation has eaten away individuals’s incomes. Economies, massive and small, have skilled, over this yr alone, the very best rise in value of residing over a era; the very best rise in government borrowing in over fifty (50) years; the very best rise in inflation for forty (40) years; the steepest depreciation of their currencies to the US greenback during the last thirty (30) years; the quickest peak in rates of interest for over twenty (20) years; and the best menace of unemployment in peace time; with over 100 million individuals being pushed into excessive poverty.

Between the tip of 2019 and now, inflation in Ghana has elevated by five-fold, in Togo by sixteen-fold, by eleven-fold in Senegal, and by seven-fold in Cote d’Ivoire. In reality, nonetheless, the truth that there are petrol queues in France doesn't make it extra tolerable that the trotro worth from Kasoa to Circle has doubled previously one yr, nor does it make it any extra tolerable that the value of cooking oil goes up each different week.

It is essential to state that mentioning the will increase in costs worldwide will not be meant to belittle the scope of struggling right here, however merely to assist us put issues into some perspective, and, hopefully, study some helpful classes about how different persons are coping.

Fellow Ghanaians, this is the reason I'm again in your houses this night to ask in your help, as we work collectively to get our economic system again into fine condition.

In April, after the Cabinet retreat of the primary quarter, and recognising the deteriorating macro economic system, my government introduced a thirty p.c (30%) minimize in budgeted discretionary expenditures, and a thirty p.c (30%) minimize in salaries of the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs and political workplace holders, amongst different measures.

And, since July, when the Government took the tough choice to go to the IMF to hunt help, I've been talking publicly at completely different fora with regards to the financial difficulties we face, particularly throughout my current excursions, up to now, of 9 (9) areas, and interacting straight with you, the Ghanaian individuals. It can also be true that lots of you will have felt the necessity for me to come back again to the Fellow Ghanaians format that brings us all collectively.

For us, in Ghana, our actuality is that our economic system is in nice problem. The price range drawn for the 2022 fiscal yr has been thrown out of substances, disrupting our steadiness of funds and debt sustainability, and additional exposing the structural weaknesses of our economic system.

We are in a disaster, I don't exaggerate after I say so. I can not discover an instance in historical past when so many malevolent forces have come collectively on the similar time. But, as we've got proven in different circumstances, we will flip this disaster into a possibility to resolve not simply the short-term, pressing issues, however the long-term structural issues which have bedeviled our economic system.

I urge us all to see the choice to go to the International Monetary Fund on this gentle. We have gone to the Fund to restore, within the quick time period, our public funds, and restore our steadiness of funds, while we proceed to work on the medium to long-term structural adjustments which can be on the coronary heart of our aim of developing a resilient, sturdy Ghanaian economic system, and constructing a Ghana Beyond Aid.

I'm able to report back to you, my fellow Ghanaians, that the negotiations to safe a powerful IMF Programme, which is able to help the implementation of our Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth and extra funding to help the 2023 Budget and improvement programme, are at superior phases, and are going effectively.

We are decided to safe these preparations rapidly to deliver again confidence and reduction to Ghanaians. We are working in direction of reaching a take care of the IMF by the tip of the yr. This will give additional credence to the measures the Government is taking to stabilise and develop the economic system, in addition to shore up our foreign money.

I do know that the rising value of residing is the primary concern for all of us. It is pushed by fast-escalating gasoline costs on the pumps, which is brought on by excessive crude oil costs on the world market and our depreciated foreign money. I do know that that is placing insupportable stress on households and companies. I do know that persons are being pushed to make decisions they need to not need to make, and I do know that it has led to the devaluation of capital of merchants and painfully collected financial savings. Furthermore, Government is working to safe dependable and common sources of reasonably priced petroleum merchandise for the Ghanaian market. It is predicted that this association, when profitable, coupled with a steady foreign money will halt the escalation of gasoline costs and convey reduction to us all.

I hear from the market queens additionally that one other issue fueling the excessive costs is the excessive margins that some merchants are slapping on items, for worry of future increased prices. I say to our merchants, we're all on this collectively. Please allow us to be measured within the margins we search. I've nice respect and admiration for the ingenuity and onerous work of our merchants, particularly those who tackle the distribution of foodstuffs across the nation, and I'd hesitate to hitch in calling them names. I do make a heartfelt enchantment that all of us preserve an eye fixed out for the higher good, and never attempt to make the utmost earnings out of the present difficulties.

In language that each market lady and, certainly, each dealer in our nation understands, let me say that the fundamental drawback we face is that we do not make as a lot cash as we have to spend, and what little cash we do make goes to pay for the money owed we've got contracted to fund the event initiatives we should have. Not sufficient of us are paying our taxes, not sufficient of us are producing to generate the revenues that we want.

Nevertheless, my ambitions for Ghana stay excessive. All our kids ought to be educated and educated with expertise that may allow us be aggressive on the earth. We want to shut quickly the infrastructure hole, we have to construct a world-class healthcare system, and we have to construct confidence in ourselves to make ours the completely satisfied and affluent place it deserves to be.

I consider we will and we'll discover the means to attain these objectives, even when the rapid measures we've got to take are painful.

At the just-ended Cabinet Retreat at Peduase Lodge, my government agreed on the framework for the Post COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth and the IMF help for its implementation, in addition to the work being carried out by the Ministry of Finance in preparation for the 2023 price range. At the Cabinet Retreat, we took some agency selections that ought to put us on the trail that may take our nation out of the present financial difficulties. Let me attempt to provide you with a top level view of the primary selections with out stepping into the technical language that baffles many people.

To restore and maintain debt sustainability, we plan to scale back our complete public debt to GDP ratio to some fifty-five p.c (55%) in current worth phrases by 2028, with the servicing of our exterior debt pegged at no more than eighteen p.c (18%) of our annual income additionally by 2028.

We are dedicated to bettering the income assortment effort, from the present tax-revenue to GDP ratio of 13 (13%) to between eighteen and twenty p.c (18-20%), to be aggressive with our friends within the West Africa Region. The GRA is rolling out an intensive set of measures to help this enhanced income mobilisation. All of us should do our patriotic responsibility, and help the GRA on this train.

We are aiming to revive and maintain macroeconomic stability throughout the subsequent three (3) to 6 (6) years, with a concentrate on making certain debt sustainability to advertise sturdy and inclusive progress whereas defending the poor.

We have determined to assessment the reforms within the power sector, capping of statutory funds, implementation of the exemptions Act and a brand new property fee regime. We have determined additionally to proceed with the coverage of thirty p.c (30%) minimize within the salaries of political workplace holders together with the President, Vice President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MMDCEs, and SOE appointees in 2023, simply as we'll proceed with the thirty p.c (30%) minimize in discretionary expenditures of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

My fellow Ghanaians, the success of our efforts at diversifying the construction of the Ghanaian economic system from an import-based one to a value-added exporting one is what's going to, in the long run, assist strengthen our economic system. We are making some progress with the 1D1F however our present state of affairs requires that we take some extra stringent measures to discourage the importation of products that we will and do produce right here.

To this finish, we'll assessment the requirements required for imports into the nation, prioritise the imports, in addition to assessment the administration of our international change reserves, in relation to imports of merchandise corresponding to rice, poultry, vegetable oil, tooth picks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles, and others which, with intensified government help and that of the banking sector, may be manufactured and produced in enough portions in Ghana. Government will, in May 2023, that's six (6) months from now, assessment the state of affairs. We should, as a matter of pressing nationwide safety, scale back our dependence on imported items, and improve our self-reliance, as demanded by our overarching aim of making a Ghana Beyond Aid.

Much as we consider in free commerce, we should work to make sure that nearly all of items in our retailers and market locations are these we produce and develop right here in Ghana. That is why we've got to help our farmers and home industries, together with these created underneath the 1-District-1-Factory initiative, to assist scale back our dependence on imports, and permit us the chance to export increasingly of our merchandise, and assure a steady foreign money that may current a excessive degree of predictability for residents and the enterprise group. Exports, not imports, should be our mantra! Accra, in any case, hosts the headquarters of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Fellow Ghanaians, because the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, cash doesn't like noise, sika mpɛ dede. Where there's chaos, the place there's noise, the place there's unrest, you'll not discover cash. If you discuss down your cash, it's going to go down. If you enable some unidentifiable individual to speak down your cash, it's going to go down.

The current turbulence on the monetary markets was brought on by low inflows of international change, and was made worse within the final two to 3 weeks, particularly, by the actions of speculators and the Black Market. An nameless two-minute audio message on a WhatsApp platform predicting a so-called haircut on Government bonds despatched all of us into banks and foreign exchange bureaus to dump our cedis, and, earlier than we knew it, the cedi had depreciated additional. All of us can play an element in serving to to strengthen the cedi by having confidence within the foreign money, and avoiding hypothesis. Let us preserve our cedi as the nice retailer of worth it's. To those that make it a behavior of publishing falsehoods, which end in panic within the system, I say to them that the related state companies will act towards such individuals.

Indeed, some steps have been taken to revive order within the foreign exchange markets and we're already starting to see some calm returning. We is not going to relent till order is totally restored. The following actions have been taken to this point:

Enhanced supervisory motion by the Bank of Ghana within the foreign exchange bureau markets and the black market to flush out unlawful operators, in addition to making certain that these permitted to function legally abide by the market guidelines. Already some foreign exchange bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this train will proceed till full order is restored within the sector;

Fresh inflows of {dollars} are offering liquidity to the international change market, and addressing the pipeline demand;

the Bank of Ghana has given its full dedication to the industrial banks to supply liquidity to make sure the wheels of the economic system proceed to run in a stabilized method, until the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances anticipated from different companions additionally are available;

Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining firms to introduce a brand new authorized and regulatory framework to make sure that all international change earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to assist increase the home international change market; and the Bank of Ghana will improve its gold buy programme.

I'm assured that these rapid measures designed to vary the construction of our steadiness of cost flows, sanitise the international change market to make sure that the banks and foreign exchange bureaus function alongside worldwide greatest practices, along with strengthened supervision, will go a protracted technique to sanitize our international change market, and make it extra resilient towards exterior vulnerabilities going ahead.

Over the course of this week, I've held a number of fruitful engagements with the Trades Union Congress and Organised Labour, the Ghana Employers’ Association, the Association of Ghana Industries, the Ghana Association of Banks, the Private Enterprise Federation, the Association of Forex Bureau Operators, the Association of Market Queens and Women, all of whom symbolize essential stakeholders of the Ghanaian economic system. They expressed their issues and proposed options on how greatest to unravel our issues. I've been inspired by the passion of those curiosity teams to assist Government deal with these challenges, and I intend to proceed these engagements with different teams.

I additionally wish to guarantee all Ghanaians that no particular person or institutional investor, together with pension funds, in Government treasury payments or devices will lose their cash, because of our ongoing IMF negotiations. There will likely be no “haircuts”, so I urge all of you to disregard the false rumours, simply as, within the banking sector clean-up, Government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the train didn't lose their deposits.

Anuanom, menim sɛɛ asetenamu ayɛ din. Nanso, ma obiaa empa aba, monkͻso enya gyidie ɛwͻ mabam mu. Nhyehyɛ yɛ aa ɛtumi maa Free SHS ɛni 1-District-1-Factory ɛbaa mu nu; nhyehyɛ yɛ aa ɛboaa ma yetumi pam corona yariɛ no efri oman ni mu; saa ɛnso na maban ɛ toto niemayie saa mereyi ama ahotͻ aba oman nimu, efri sɛɛ mewͻ gydie sɛɛ ɛko no yɛ Awurade Nyankopͻn ni ko.

Anyɛmimɛi, mile akɛ nibii ewa, shi nyɛ ka shia gbeye. Nyɛ yaanͻ ni nyɛ naa hemͻ kɛ yeli akɛ gbɛjianͻto ni hani free SHS ba min, gbɛjia nͻto ni hani 1-District-1-Factory ba min, gbɛjianͻto ni hani wͻ nyɛ wͻ shwe Corona hela kɛshi wͻ man nɛ min; nakai nͻͻ ni mi amlalo ba to gbɛjianͻ koni hejͻlɛ aba maa min, ejaakɛ, miyɛ hemͻ kɛ yeli ak3, ta, Nyͻnmͻ ta lɛ ni.

My government has at all times been cognisant of the significance of implementing insurance policies and social interventions to alleviate Ghanaians of hardships. It is for that reason that over the primary 5 (5) years in workplace government lowered electrical energy tariffs cumulatively by 10.9%, we supplied free water and electrical energy in addition to lowered tariffs for the complete inhabitants throughout an entire yr of the COVID-19 pandemic; we elevated the share of the District Assemblies Common Fund to individuals with disabilities by 50%; we exempted Kayayei from market tolls; we expanded the LEAP by 100 and fifty thousand (150,000) beneficiaries; we expanded School Feeding from 1.6 million kids to 2.1 million kids; we restored instructor and nursing coaching allowances; we absorbed the price of BECE and WASSCE examination registrations for folks; no guarantor is now required to acquire student loans. The Ghanacard is enough; and we've got carried out free TVET in addition to free senior excessive school schooling.

It is clear, fellow Ghanaians, that you've got a government that cares. We are decided to revive stability to the economic system, and supply reduction. We are all on this collectively, and I'm asking in your help to rescue Ghana from the throes of this financial disaster.

I've complete confidence in our skill to work our approach out of our present difficulties. We are usually not afraid of onerous work. We will triumph, as we've got triumphed many instances earlier than. Let us unite, and rally round our Republic, its establishments and its democratic values, and demand that, underneath God, we'll emerge victorious from our present difficulties. For this too shall go, because the Battle is the Lord’s.

I will likely be coming frequently to maintain you up to date concerning the measures your government is making to maneuver our nation ahead, and sort out our financial challenges.

God bless us all and our homeland Ghana, and make her nice and powerful.

I thanks in your consideration, and have night.