Don't blame Ofori-Atta for economic woes - Economist

Development Economist, Dr George Domfe has said Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta cannot be blamed for the current economic woes the country is facing. According to him, the Minister has discharged his duties excellently and cannot be blamed for the current economic struggles the country finds itself in. “When you look at Ghana’s growth trajectory prior to 2020, it is clear that the Finance Minister did an excellent job in managing the economy. However, the influx of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war has eroded the gains. “Cast your mind back to 2017 when he took over as Finance Minister. He managed to stabilize the dollar for a very long time. The dollar until this year was selling at 6 cedis. This shows the kind of work he did to stabilize it. Unfortunately, the US decided to hike their prime rates which is forcing our cedi to fall rapidly. So I don’t understand the call for his dismissal,” he said on Peace FM. Mr. Ofori-Atta has come under increasing pressure belatedly to resign from his post with the most recent coming from Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Majority caucus in Parliament. The MPs, numbering 80 called for his dismissal to boost the government’s chances of restoring confidence in Ghana’s economy. However, Dr. Domfe dismissed their request insisting that there is no basis for the President to relieve him of his duties citing the instrumental role the Finance Minister played in steering the country towards sound economic footing prior to 2020. Notably, he said the Minister was able to keep the country’s inflation at a single digit, supervised the implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and managed to achieve a 7 per cent growth in the economy in 2019.

Development Economist, Dr George Domfe has said Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta cannot be blamed for the current economic woes the country is facing. According to him, the Minister has discharged his duties excellently and cannot be blamed for the current economic struggles the country finds itself in. “When you look at Ghana’s growth trajectory prior to 2020, it is clear that the Finance Minister did an excellent job in managing the economy. However, the influx of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war has eroded the gains. “Cast your mind back to 2017 when he took over as Finance Minister. He managed to stabilize the dollar for a very long time. The dollar until this year was selling at 6 cedis. This shows the kind of work he did to stabilize it. Unfortunately, the US decided to hike their prime rates which is forcing our cedi to fall rapidly. So I don’t understand the call for his dismissal,” he said on Peace FM. Mr. Ofori-Atta has come under increasing pressure belatedly to resign from his post with the most recent coming from Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Majority caucus in Parliament. The MPs, numbering 80 called for his dismissal to boost the government’s chances of restoring confidence in Ghana’s economy. However, Dr. Domfe dismissed their request insisting that there is no basis for the President to relieve him of his duties citing the instrumental role the Finance Minister played in steering the country towards sound economic footing prior to 2020. Notably, he said the Minister was able to keep the country’s inflation at a single digit, supervised the implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and managed to achieve a 7 per cent growth in the economy in 2019.