Coronavirus: Cut down your ministers to save money – Mahama to Akufo-Addo

Former President John Mahama has urged President Akufo-Addo to cut down the size of his government in order to make adjustments for the economic challenges occasioned by covid-19.

“Our economy has revealed from this Covid stress test that it is still fragile and we need to be prudent in how we manage going forward. We must also be diligent in how we apply the $1 billion facility as the various tranches are released.

“We face significant pressure on our local currency, declining domestic revenues, a slowdown in GDP growth, increase in deficit to GDP of between 8% to 9%, ballooning debt which is projected to hit almost 70% by end year. This scenario requires that we exercise strict prioritization in our borrowing and expenditures and this might be the right time for the President to consider trimming down the bloated size of his government,” Mr Mahama said while donated food Items to some vulnerable households in Ghana.

He also appealed to the government to make judicious use of the money given it by the IMF.

“It is predicted that this pandemic and the disruption of global trade and economic activity will adversely affect the economies of developing countries. Ghana is no exception. The fast track approval by the IMF of the highly concessional Rapid Credit Facility is therefore timely and very welcome. This will help cushion the economy from the dangers of recession”.

Ghana’s covid-19 case count now stands at 636, up by some 70 more cases.

The figure stood at 566 as of Tuesday morning.

According to the Ghana Health Service, as of 13th April 2020, at 23:00HRS, a total of 44,421 persons have been tested with 636 being positive for COVID-19.

The breakdown of the 636 positive cases are as follows: seventeen (17) have been treated, reverted to negative on repeat tests and discharged, 605 cases have been categorised as mild disease and are on treatment, two (2) are categorized as moderate to severe cases, none in critical state currently and eight (8) have died.

Of the 636 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 268 were reported from the routine surveillance, 253 from enhanced surveillance activities and 115 from travellers under mandatory quarantine in both Accra and Tamale.

Regions that have reported cases are Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Western, Volta, Northern, North East, Upper East, and Upper West regions.