Coronavirus: Potential economic impact on Ghana has been assessed – Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says government has assessed and analyzed the potential economic impact of the spread of the novel coronavirus on Ghana.

This follows a March 12 announcement by the Health Minister, Kweku Agyeman-Manu that Ghana had recorded its first two imported coronavirus cases from Turkey and Norway.

The cases, which involve a Norwegian national and a Ghanaian have however tested positive after laboratory tests from the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research.

According to the Information Minister, Ghana’s Economic Management Team, which is led by the Vice President, Dr. Bawumia along with Finance Ministry, has carried out an adequate assessment of the economic impact of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In fact, the Ministry of Finance has already done some work on the potential economic impact of this pandemic and is standing by to activate what may be necessary in that instance,” Oppong-Nkrumah said on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday.

“The Vice President and the Economic Management Team have received briefs from the Finance Ministry explaining the potential economic cost to the Republic and how we would have to work to mitigate that. The assessment on the potential impact on Ghana has selected areas of advantage that can be explored by the country to locally produce some basic things needed to fight the virus,” the Information Minister explained.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 addressed the nation in a broadcast on the measures government is putting in place to enhance Ghana’s coronavirus preparedness and rapid response plan.

He announced that an amount of US$100 million will be made available by government through the Ministry of Finance as part of efforts to prepare and combat the spread of the virus while appealing to the citizenry to desist from all foreign travels for now until a grip is found on the virus.

Some immediate neighbours such as Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo, have since recorded confirmed cases of infections, and countries like China, South Korea, United States and Italy, where there is a huge populace, have escalated their response to the outbreak of the virus.

Globally, there have been 131,326 confirmed cases with 5,000 deaths worldwide and as of Wednesday, March 11 the World Health Organisation (WHO) labelled the coronavirus as a pandemic and called for the need for all countries to take serious precautions.