Opposition Says World Bank's Economy Position Improper

ACCRA, Ghana (PANA) - Alliance for Change, an opposition umbrella group, has described as improper the World Bank's position that the economic crisis facing Ghana is due to external factors.

"It (the description) constitutes external interference in our internal matters," the group said Thursday of the bank's position.

Its spokesman, Nana Akufo-Addo, made the remark at a press conference in Accra held to mark the fifth anniversary of a bloody protest by thousands of people against high prices which followed the introduction of the Valued Added Tax.

Four people died in the ensuing clashes and the opposition has persistently blamed government supporters for the deaths.

"It was improper for Mr. (Peter) Harrold (World Bank Country Director) to have attributed the country's economic crisis to external shocks," the group said.

Harrold, commenting on the economic crisis, attributed it to external shocks, particularly the fall in the price of cocoa and the increase in the price of crude oil.

His position tallied with the government's explanation of why there was an acute shortage of foreign currency in Ghana.

The local currency, the cedi, nose-dived to an all-time low just before the Easter holidays with the dollar valued at between 5,500 and 6,000 cedis.

The opposition said the economy has worsened because of mismanagement and lack of vision by the government, a charge dismissed by Finance Minister Kwame Peprah.

Akufo-Addo described Harrold's statement as a confession and apologia for the failure of the World Bank's induced Structural Adjustment Programme, which the government is pursuing.

"Since the initiation of the SAP, billions of dollars have been pumped into the Ghanaian economy, but the living standards of our people are no better than those who lived in the colonial era," he said.

This, he said, was a sign that the programme was misleading and shallow, adding that the current state of the economy only amplified the failure of the SAP and the fact that it was not in the country's interest.

Akufo-Addo noted that time has come for Ghanaians to reject the SAP and demand more from the government and the international community.