When it comes to managing Ghana’s economy, the National Democratic Congress could best be described as worse managers, Vice President Dr. Bawumia has said.
According to Vice President, NDC’s record on the economy is poor and throwing a challenge to the NPP on economic management is just like comparing a worse performer to the best performer.
The Vice President in an address during a town hall meeting and results fair at the Great Hall in Kumasi explained that under the leadership of President Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s external payments position has strengthened.
He explained that “for the first time in over twenty years, the trade balance (the difference between what we export and what we import) recorded a surplus in 2017, a larger surplus in 2018, and an even larger surplus in 2019.”
Dr Bawumia continued that “it is not because we are importing less, but largely because of increased exports as a result of positive transformation of this economy by the NPP government. The positive trade balance has resulted in a significant narrowing of the current account deficit as a per cent of GDP (figures 12 – 13).”
He further supported his argument by stating “Ghana operates a managed floating exchange rate regime. For that reason, we can or should never expect that the exchange rate will be fixed.”
Adding that “it will fluctuate depending on demand and supply. What policymakers can do is to try to control the rate of depreciation or appreciation of a currency through sound policies. In the context of a floating exchange rate regime therefore, arresting the depreciation of a currency can only mean slowing down the rate of depreciation or stopping a rapid and volatile depreciation of the currency.”
Source: peacefmonline.com
