2022 was the most difficult year for me as finance minister - Ofori-Atta

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said that the year 2022 was the most difficult for him in his role as the country’s lead economic manager.

Addressing parliament on Monday, July 31, 2023, during the 2023 Mid-Year Budget, the minister explained that in the year in perspective, things were so difficult that it informed the government’s decision to seek external financial support.

He added that that was how the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo went to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Mr. Speaker, 2022 was the most difficult year for me as Ghana’s Finance Minister. On July 1st 2022, we took what was then a very difficult but necessary decision to request support from the IMF to implement our post-COVID-19 Programme of Economic Growth (PC-PEG). The country was going through a dire period of economic uncertainties and despondency,” he said.

Ken Ofori-Atta further stated that this notwithstanding, the country has been able to keep its feet on the ground, turning around the corner.

He also added that soon, the measures the government has taken will begin to fully reflect in the lives of Ghanaians.

“A year on, our steps are more grounded, the vision is clearer, the path to recovery is better set, and confidence in our economy is back, growing gradually.

“Mr. Speaker, we have turned the corner and, more importantly, we are determined to continue down that path. Soon, we expect the measures taken resulting in economic activity greater than anything experienced in the history of the Fourth Republic.

“Our plans and programmes should soon lead to a sustained increase in domestic production, including manufacturing and farming, replacing many of the products that we are used to importing,” he said.

AE/OGB