Economy crisis: We’ve turned the corner – Ofori-Atta

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has revealed that Ghana is currently making modest gains in turning the economy around after experiencing severe economic hardship in 2022.

During the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review presented in Parliament on July 31, Mr Ofori-Atta highlighted that the government’s plans and programmes are starting to yield positive results.

In his address, the Finance Minister urged the nation to acknowledge and appreciate the major milestones achieved in the past three years.

Despite facing various challenges, Ghana has been able to maintain peace, health, security, and a continuous supply of power, among other essential aspects of life.

Mr. Ofori-Atta expressed optimism that the measures implemented will lead to an upswing in economic activity, surpassing anything experienced in the history of the Fourth Republic.

“Mr. Speaker, it is important that we acknowledge some of the major milestones that this country has experienced in the last 3 years. We should be still and appreciate that despite our challenges as a country, we have been saved from many extreme conditions that others have suffered, including peace, health, security, continuous supply of power, and life itself, amongst others.

“Over that period, the country has gone through extremely difficult situations, and the gratitude of His Excellency the President and his government goes to the good people of Ghana for their patience, understanding and positive contributions to Government’s efforts to weather the storm.

“Mr. Speaker, 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.”

“As I have indicated, we have made significant progress on restoring macroeconomic stability and the narrative is changing. The economy is showing signs of recovery. The exchange rate has stabilised, inflation has softened, and interest rates have declined since December, 2022.”