Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party, claims the country is recovering from the economic crisis it faced.
He acknowledged the challenging state of affairs when the NPP assumed leadership but emphasised their success in revitalizing the nation.
In his address to the nation on February 7, 2024, outlining his vision for the country, Dr. Bawumia acknowledged the difficulties faced between 2019 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, he highlighted that the current economic status surpasses that of the Mahama administration, which did not contend with a pandemic during its tenure.
“What is remarkable is that notwithstanding the domestic and global crisis that we have experienced between 2020 and 2022, the economic performance as measured by the key economic indicators (such as GDP growth, Agricultural growth, industry growth, Trade Balance, Exchange rate depreciation, lending rates, Gross international reserves and jobs) is better than that of the 2013-2016 period when there no global crisis.”
He highlighted several instances including Ghana’s GDP growth and agricultural and industrial growth, He said the GDP has reduced tremendously despite the economic crisis.
“On GDP growth, it is worth noting that between 2013- 2016, Ghana’s GDP growth averaged 3.9%. During our first term (2017-2020) GDP growth increased to an average of 5.3%. Following COVID-19 and the global slowdown, Ghana’s GDP growth declined to an average of 4.9% between 2017 and 2022.
“What is remarkable about this performance is that notwithstanding the global economic crisis from COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, economic growth under our 8 government is still stronger on average than under the 2013- 2016 era preceding our coming into office.”