Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has stated that MPs on the government’s side have informed him that Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta will leave office following the budget presentation.
He accused the Finance Minister of abandoning the country’s economy with the help of Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
“The Finance Minister is leaving office after the budget, his own NPP MPs are saying it,” he was quoted as adding.
“He is leaving behind a crashed or destroyed economy, that is his record,” Ato Forson told Alfred Ocansey on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 while reacting to the budget presentation on Wednesday, November 15.
Prior to the interview with TV3, Dr Ato Forson had said “The government will be leaving behind a bankrupt economy. The government will be leaving the country in an ‘ahokyere’ state.”
During the budget presentation, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta told Parliament, among other things, that Ghana’s economy under the Akufo-Addo government is worth more than one trillion cedis.
This, he claimed, was in contrast to the GHc219.5 billion inherited from the Mahama government in 2016.
“The 2024 budget is even more significant because we cross the one trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) mark for the first time in our economic history,” remarked the Finance Minister.
“Let me repeat, Ghana’s economy, under President Akufo-Addo, in 2024 final year in office is projected to be valued at over One Trillion Cedis in 2025 from the GHS219.5 billion we inherited in 2016.”
Mr Ofori-Atta went on to say that the administration is now focused on preserving the present rate of growth in the economy.
He stated that the administration is dedicated to maintaining the local currency’s stability and disinflation in the medium run.
“Our task now is to maintain stability and keep on growing. we are determined to remain on a course of increased growth, currency stability and disinflation over the medium term.
“I am confident that this victory budget will ensure that we boldly walk on a sustainable path toward creating decent jobs and wealth for our people,” the Finance Minister said during the 2024 budget statement presentation on Wednesday, November 15.
He stated that the administration had turned the corner in terms of economic issues when it concluded the first assessment of the three-year, three-billion-dollar International Monetary Fund External Credit Facility (IMF-ECF) programme.
“We turned the corner when we completed the IMF first review,” he told Parliament while presenting the 2024 budget statement on Wednesday, November 15.
He further assured that the government is poised to “maintain stability and keep growing. and ensure increased growth, currency stability”
“We turned the corner when inflation started declining from 54 1 in December to 35.2 in October 2023, he added.
“The recovery is indeed real and is here to stay,” he further assured.
Mr Ofori-Atta went on to say that the quick implementation of significant fiscal and monetary policy measures since last year, as well as in the first half of 2023, is primarily responsible for the ongoing economic recovery.
“So far, growth in 2023 has been more resilient than expected, inflation has declined in line with the fundamentals, the fiscal and external balances have improved, and the exchange rate has stabilised,” he said.
