Hon. Sammi Awuku, Member of Parliament for Akuapem North, has asserted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has outperformed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in meeting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Convergence Criteria, a set of key economic indicators designed to promote stability and monetary integration among member states.
Despite the global economic challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, Hon. Awuku emphasized that the NPP made significant strides in key economic areas, particularly when compared to the NDC’s performance between 2009 and 2016.
He outlined the fiscal discipline under the NPP administration, noting that while the NDC left a budget deficit of 9.0% in 2016, the NPP reduced it to 5.2% on a cash basis and 7.9% on a commitment basis by 2024.
However, he acknowledged that neither government achieved the ECOWAS target of keeping the deficit at or below 3% of GDP.
Regarding inflation, Hon. Awuku highlighted that both the NPP and the NDC struggled to meet the ECOWAS threshold of 5%.
In 2016, the NDC left inflation at 15.4%, and by 2024, the NPP had brought it to 23.8%.
Nevertheless, both administrations successfully avoided central bank financing of the budget deficit, meeting this particular target.
On foreign reserves, Hon. Awuku pointed to the NPP’s achievement in increasing the import cover from 2.8 months (about $6.1 billion) in 2016 to 4.0 months (approximately $8.98 billion) by 2024, a target the NDC had failed to meet.
Although he acknowledged the NDC’s better performance in exchange rate stability, with a nominal exchange rate of -9.5% in 2016 compared to the NPP’s -19.2% in 2024, Hon. Awuku emphasized the NPP’s success in reducing the public debt-to-GDP ratio from 73.1% in 2016 to 61.8% in 2024.
In his concluding remarks, Hon. Awuku summarized that the NPP scored 3 out of 6 (50%) in meeting the ECOWAS Convergence Criteria, compared to the NDC’s 2 out of 6 (33.3%).
Despite the adverse effects of global economic disruptions, he asserted that the NPP left a more resilient and stronger economy in 2024 than the one it inherited from the NDC in 2016.
