Casely-Hayford tears Rawlings' economic analysis

A Financial analyst, Sydney Casely-Hayford, has indicated that the allusions of former President Jerry John Rawlings imputing the nation’s economic woes to the erstwhile J.A. Kufuor administration is not accurate and should not be given any prominence as Mr. Rawlins lacks what it takes to analyse the economic and financial matters of the nation.

He was responding to recent public comments made by ex-President John Rawlings to the effect that the current economic dilemma facing Ghana could be traced as far back as 2001, when the NPP won elections to govern the country under the leadership of John Agyekum Kufuor.

The former president made the comments at the National Economic Forum in Akosombo and further described the economic situation in the country as “almost dead,” saying it will require selfless men and women to clean up the situation.

But speaking on Ultimate Radio's morning show, Mr. Sydney Casely-Hayford stated that the nation shouldn’t take Mr. Rawlings so seriously as the nation’s economic woes are a culmination of economic challenges faced by both sides of the political divide.

“For those of us in the economic domain, we know that this was not what happened. When the NPP took over in 2001, the economy was a mess and they managed to fix whatever they could and when they handed over, it wasn’t such a rosy picture.,” he stated. He added on the other hand that, “When the NDC took over again, they also claimed they had restored macroeconomic stability and they had fixed the issues and now we are back in the mess again”.

Proffering solutions for the country, Sydney Casely – Hayford, who is lead a session on microeconomic stability at the forum, emphasized that improving the country’s micro – economic indicators is the way to go.

He is convinced disciplined implementation of well-tailored policies to fix the defects in the economy from the Micro level is one option Ghana cannot afford to overlook if any meaningful economic impact can be made.

The four day Forum, which ended yesterday, brought together key personalities to brainstorm on Ghana’s economy and to find out how to arrest the current economic challenges facing the country.