We have steadied the economic ship, Ghana is on course - Bawumia

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the combination of prudent macro-and microeconomic policies and innovative programmes implemented by the Akufo-Addo administration over the past three years has restored Ghana’s economy and on the path to economic development.

Addressing a Town Hall Meeting and Result Fair in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region on Tuesday, Dr Bawumia used a combination of graphs, tables and text as evidence to buttress his claim that the NPP Government had delivered on its manifesto promises.

“The data shows that Ghana’s macroeconomic fundamentals are strong.

"Indeed, the strength of Ghana’s economic fundamentals was confirmed recently by Moody’s Ratings, which changed Ghana’s sovereign ratings from stable outlook to positive outlook with B3. This is unprecedented for an election year,” Vice President Bawumia pointed out.

“Standards and Poors also upgraded Ghana’s sovereign credit rating from B- to B with a stable outlook last year.

"This was the first upgrade by S&P for Ghana in 10 years.

This is a strong affirmation of the positive assessment by the international financial markets of Ghana’s economic fundamentals.

He said last week, the nation successfully issued the longest Eurobond ever issued by a sub-Saharan African country, with investors placing $15 billion of orders for Ghana’s 41 year Eurobond.

The seven-year Bond issued has attracted the lowest coupon rates ever for Ghana at 6.375%, compared with the 9.25% the country paid for a similar Eurobond issued in 2016, the Vice President stated, noting that, it showed massive confidence in the Ghanaian economy by investors.

Throwing more light on government's economic performance, Dr Bawumia said for the first time in a decade, Ghana recorded primary balance surpluses, with the tax revenues exceeding all government spending, excluding debt service payments for three years in a row.

The inflation dropped steadily from 15.4 percent at the end of 2016 to 7.9 percent at the end of December 2019, which is the lowest since 1992.

The trade balance, showing the difference between what the nation exports and import, recorded a surplus in 2017, a larger surplus in 2018, and an even larger surplus in 2019, he added.

Vice President Bawumia noted that even the cedi exchange rate under the NPP administration from 2017 to 2019 is twice as stable compared to the NDC government from 2013 to 2016.

He said the average depreciation of the cedi under the NDC administration was 18% compared to 8.7% under the NPP government.