Vice President of the Republic of Ghana and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has assured that his economic policies are in line with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) program’s financial stabilization measures, which are driving Ghana’s economic recovery and growth.
His assurance is in response to concerns from economic analysts that eliminating the e-levy, introducing a tax amnesty, and implementing a flat tax could disrupt revenue streams and IMF-backed stabilization measures.
Speaking at a media engagement over the weekend, Dr. Bawumia stated that his government is committed to ensuring economic growth and fiscal discipline.
“I do not see any inconsistency at all between what I am proposing and the fund program that we are engaged in. If you read my proposals very carefully, I start off by saying that we are going to bring down government expenditure by 3% of GDP.”
“The proposals in terms of the tax cuts I am proposing will not even come up to 0.5% of GDP so, you have more than enough space to fund what I am talking about. So, I think that the issue at the end of the day for the program is to make sure we maintain fiscal sustainability.”
Dr. Bawumia also praised the Gold for Oil plan as an important initiative that saved the economy from collapse, underscoring that the programme’s success was critical in averting economic downturn.
“When I look at what was happening in 2022, I mean, the 54% depreciation of the cedi, it was very scary.
The economy was on the verge of collapse because you saw our reserves declining very steeply. Inflation was up and my worry at that time, frankly speaking, was that I could see this country moving towards Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was what was clearly in my mind at that time because there were protests in Sri Lanka due to no fuel, Dumsor was there and when you saw the way our reserves were moving in 2022, we were heading right in that direction.”
“It was in that context that I came up with two policies. One was the gold for oil policy and the gold purchase program of the Bank of Ghana. What is very interesting is that without this gold for oil and gold purchase program, this economy would have collapsed. There is no doubt in my mind because in the last couple of years, the Bank of Ghana, under the gold purchase program, has been able to buy $5 billion of gold. This is why there are no queues for petrol. This is why Dumsor has not happened in Ghana.”
Story by: Alexander Kuuku Osei-Baidoo | univers.ug.edu.gh
