2022 was my most difficult year as Finance Minister – Ofori-Atta

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta says 2022 was his worst year as the manager of Ghana’s public purse.

Presenting the 2023 mid-year budget review in Parliament on Monday, July 31, Mr. Ofori-Atta indicated that the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic posed a great challenge for him and the governing New Patriotic Party forcing the government to run to the International Monetary Fund for respite.

“2022 was the most difficult year for me as Ghana’s Finance Minister. On July 1st 2022, we took what was then a very difficult but necessary decision to request support from the IMF to implement our Post-COVID-19 Programme of Economic Growth (PC-PEG). The country was going through a dire period of economic uncertainties and despondency.”

He added that measures taken by the Finance Ministry and the government have however begun yielding results as the economy is making a gradual recovery.

“A year on, our steps are more grounded, the vision is clearer, the path to recovery is better set, and confidence in our economy is back, growing gradually.

“We have turned the corner and, more importantly, we are determined to continue down that path. Soon, we expect the measures taken to result in economic activity greater than anything experienced in the history of the Fourth Republic. Our plans and programmes should soon lead to a sustained increase in domestic production, including manufacturing and farming, replacing many of the products that we are used to importing.”

“The economy is showing signs of recovery. The exchange rate has stabilised, inflation has softened, and interest rates have declined since December 2022,” the Finance Minster added.