‘I see, I feel how tough things are, especially for the average Ghanaian,’ – Gabby replies Prof. Hanke

Leading member of the New Patriotic Party, NPP, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has once again admitted that times are hard following from his recent comment that the government and Ministry of Finance deserved praise for handling of the economy despite the turbulence.

Gabby on Saturday, September 24, responded to Steve Hanke, a professor of Applied Economics at the John Hopkins University in the United States, who has in recent months painted a gloomy photo of Ghana’s economy relative to inflation and the depreciating Cedi.

Prof. Hanke had suggested in a tweet that Gabby must be living on a different planet to suggest that the government and Finance Ministry deserved praise for handling of the economy despite an economic crunch.

Gabby’s response dealt with three specific indices – his location, his views about the Ghanaian economy and the living conditions of citizens as well as how he approaches the issues at hand.

In response to the ‘living on another planet’ jibe by Hanke, Gabby said in a tweet quoting Hanke’s critique: “I live on the part of this planet called Ghana.”

On the economy, he stated: “I see, I feel how tough things are, especially for the average Ghanaian. I see how tough it is for Govt and the constant struggle to keep bills paid, kids in school, our lights on etc.

“I don’t sit far away behind my PC typing doom,” his post concluded.

In Prof. Steve Hanke’s critique of Gabby’s views, he posted a GhanaWeb story of Gabby’s government deserves praise claims on Twitter and captioned it thus: “Leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Otchere-Darko says Pres. Akufo-Addo deserves praise for his handling of the economy. SPOILER ALERT: Otchere-Darko must be on another planet.”

He added his usual inflation measurement which he said stood at 81%/y, a figure that is over 100% the official inflation percentage pegged at 33.9%.

The Ghana Statistical Service, GSS, recently announced that consumer inflation for August 2022 hit 33.9% from 31.7% in July.

This is the highest rate that has been recorded in 21 years. According to the GSS, food and transportation were the main drivers of inflation.

Professor Hanke who has taken a keen interest on economic issues of Ghana in a separate tweet said Ghana’s economy was tanking – an expression which means the economy is down and there are fears of a recession.

He has in the past blamed the Akufo-Addo-led administration for putting the economy in a dire situation.

“Ghana is in 8th place in this week’s inflation table. On Sep 8, I measured Ghana’s #inflation at a stunning 81%/yr–over 2x the official inflation rate of 34%/yr. #Ghana’s economy is TANKING. To rein in inflation, GHA must install a currency board,” he tweeted on September 19.

“Today, I measure #Ghana’s inflation at 81%/yr. As a result, Ghanaians don’t know the price of anything anymore. When Ghanaians see their grocery bills soar, they can thank Pres. Akufo-Addo,” Prof Hanke added.