Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Ghana’s Minister for Finance, has attributed the current state of Ghana’s economy to global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Accra, Dr. Adam emphasized the importance of understanding past global events to fully appreciate the efforts being made to stabilize the economy.
“To understand today’s economic performance, you need to consider what happened before,” Dr. Adam stated. “Prior to COVID-19, Ghana’s economy was growing at an average annual rate of 7%. For instance, we saw an 8.1% growth in 2017, up from 3.4% in 2016. In 2018, growth was 6.2%, and 6.5% in 2019. However, in 2020, amid the pandemic, growth slowed to 0.5%.”
Dr. Amin Adam noted that many countries experienced even greater declines revealing, “Countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania saw negative growth. Ghana was one of the few to record positive growth of 0.5%. Despite the pandemic’s shock, the economy had been growing at a decent rate before COVID-19.”
The Minister highlighted that Ghana’s economy rebounded quickly to 5.1% growth in 2021 due to effective government policies, yet, he pointed out the ongoing impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“In 2022, we faced the Russia-Ukraine war. Some people want to ignore COVID and the war in discussions about economic performance, but these external factors are crucial, especially for a small, open economy like ours that relies heavily on imports and is affected by global inflation.”
Dr. Adam underscored that global issues, such as food shortages due to the conflict, have contributed to inflation worldwide stating that a third of global food supplies come from Ukraine and Russia, affecting inflation globally, not just in Ghana.”
The town hall meeting, organized under the theme “Regional Revitalization: Government’s Commitment to Growth, Development, and Prosperity,” aimed to showcase the government’s infrastructure projects and social interventions, fostering inclusiveness, accountability, and participatory governance.
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Source: Angelina Riley Hayford/ATLFMNEWS
