The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has accused the Akufo-Addo administration of inflicting long-term damage on Ghana’s economy, arguing that the effects of the downturn will take time to reverse.
Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Wednesday, December 24, Mr. Iddrisu said Ghana’s economic challenges deepened significantly from 2022, leaving the country with serious structural imbalances.
“The Akufo-Addo government did long-term damage to the economy. If you want to do an assessment from 2022, the economy of Ghana went into an abyss. It will take some time to redress the structural imbalance and some of the problems visited on the Ghanaian economy,” he stated.
He stressed that the country’s economic difficulties could not be attributed solely to the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing instead to macroeconomic indicators he described as deeply troubling.
“Not just COVID-19, but you have an economy where inflation was 54 percent, coming down to 23 percent. You have an exchange rate regime of a dollar to the cedi between GH¢16. That is unacceptable; it increased the cost of doing business and crushed the private sector,” Mr. Iddrisu said.
According to the Education Minister, the private sector suffered significantly under these conditions but is beginning to show signs of recovery following the return of President John Dramani Mahama to office.
He described the renewed activity in the private sector as part of the benefits of the government’s Reset Agenda, noting that businesses are gradually regaining confidence and positioning themselves to contribute to the country’s sustainable development.
“The private sector is more or less experiencing a rebirth of opportunity with the return of President John Dramani Mahama. That is part of the gains of the Reset Agenda. They are now beginning to find their feet and to make contributions to the sustainable development of the country,” he added.
I’ve not disappointed Mahama as Education Minister – Haruna Iddrisu
