Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the majority leader and caretaker Minister of Finance, has revealed that the country will rise at a positive pace of 0.9 percent in 2020.
This, he argues, contradicts pessimistic predictions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other organizations.
When Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu appeared before Parliament to deliver the government’s budget statement for 2021, he said this.
According to him, the Akufo-Addo administration accomplished this through careful economic management.
“I am here on behalf of the President to present to the House the state of the economy and how we have managed to contain and survive the pandemic with a predicted positive growth rate of 0.9 percent in 2020, contrary to fears of a negative growth rate as many countries have experienced,” he said.
Why did Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu read the budget?
President Akufo-Addo appointed Ken Ofori-Atta, who served as Finance Minister in Akufo-first Addo’s term from 2017 to 2021, to serve in the same portfolio in his second term, but he has yet to be vetted by Parliament’s Appointments Committee due to health concerns.
Ken Ofori-Atta was flown to the United Kingdom to obtain medical treatment after experiencing complications from COVID-19, the Finance Ministry reported in a statement on February 14, 2021, ahead of his scheduled vetting date.
He recovered from the illness, according to the ministry, but later suffered complications.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has already been entrusted with the legislative responsibility of presenting the 2021 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament.
Economy to rebound strongly as GDP growth nears 5%
During his state of the nation address, President Nana Akufo-Addo stated that Ghana is expected to have a GDP growth rate of around 5% after a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This, he claims, is in line with the Finance Ministry’s forecast of 4.9 percent growth in 2020.
“This year, we expect GDP growth to recover strongly to nearly 5%, far above the IMF’s January 2021 estimate of 3.2 percent for Sub-Saharan Africa,” the President said.
In 2021 and 2022, the global economy is forecast to expand by 5.5 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.
Read Also: Akufo-Addo’s claims of no food shortage in 2020 contested
SOURCE: ATLFMNEWSONLINE
