The state of the economy shocked me - Nana Addo

The President of the Republic of Ghana has said he was shocked at the state affairs after taking over office in January 2017.

The president said he knew the biggest problem they face in coming into office will be the economy and he can simply say, ‘’I was still shocked about the state of affairs we found".

He was however quick to add that with the competent team of appointees and the Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, as the leader of the economic management team will see total transformation.

The Vice President and his economic management team will work hard and solve the mess created by the previous administration he added.

The ‘Asempa Budget’ presented by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta the president noted set the tone for a new way of doing things and provided the opportunity to deliver on some of the promises we made to Ghanaians in 2016.

President Akufo-Addo further indicated that the budget has allocated an amount $100 million dollars as government contribution either as equity or in kind support for the establishment of the 1-district-1-factory.

An additional amount of $340 million has been leveraged from local financial institutions for the programme.

The macro-economic indices he said are beginning to show a turn for the better.

‘’The monetary policy rate (MPR) of Bank of Ghana has been cut from 25.5 percent to 22.5 percent in the first half of the year. Inflation has gone down from 15.4 percent in December 2016 to 12.1 percent in June 2017, i.e. a period of six months, the lowest in four years. The benchmark 91-day Treasury Bill (T-Bill) rate was 22.8 percent in January last year, and has narrowed to 11.9 percent in June 2017, the lowest in five years,’’ he stated.