Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Contrary to arguments by the leader of the National Democratic Congress, John Mahama, and communicators of the opposition party, the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has maintained that Ghana’s economy remains robust, explaining that the country’s fight against the novel coronavirus is possible because of the resilient economy the Akufo-Addo government has built since it took power in 2017. Mr Oppong Nkrumah, speaking at a press briefing yesterday, said Ghana’s ability to introduce the various interventions towards the fight against the virus is largely dependent on the strong economy.
He therefore urged Ghanaians to reject the propaganda being bandied around by political naysayers of the government.
Construction of hospitals
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in a televised address on Sunday, announced a policy objective to construct 88 district hospitals in districts without government hospitals and six regional hospitals in the newly created regions. The President additionally said a further three infectious disease centres are to be built in each of the three belts of the country.
Subsequent to the President’s address, there have been concerns on whether the government can finance the completion of these projects, and whether or not the country’s economy is resilient enough to afford the COVID-19 interventions.
Resilient economy
But the Information Minister says “our current economic positioning is a major reason for which we are able to marshal the resources to execute a good number of the interventions we are introducing today.”
“And moving forward, the state of our economy will be key in our ability to introduce the necessary interventions to win the various battles in this war,” he said.
He explained that “it makes sense why some may question whether or not Ghana can afford all the interventions the President has outlined in the past about eight weeks of the Covid-19 response programme. This question is justified because looking at our recent economic position, and the gains made recently as a nation, there is the genuine fear that we may be unable to afford the interventions or may end up overstretched if indeed we push through to execute them all.”
“Between January 2017 and now, however, Ghana has made major strides in correcting the precarious economic conditions it found itself in. Our fiscal position has improved and our macro position has significantly improved. The combined effect of improved fiscal position and improved macro position is what enables us to afford the interventions which are being introduced as part of the Covid-19 response programme. We have significantly improved national revenues, trimmed our deficit and yielded a resilient macro position against which we can finance the intervention programmes” he added.
