Ofori-Atta charges NPP to help govt stabilise economy

(Left) Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance with Stephen Ayensu Ntim, NPP National Chairman

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, last Friday paid a visit to the headquarters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Mr Ofori-Atta bemoaned that the country was plagued with difficult socioeconomic conditions in 2022, giving cause for the skyrocketing inflation and high interest rates triggering the cost of living crisis.

Accordingly, he stressed that the Ministry of Finance was determined to achieve macroeconomic stability to provide an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and also enhance the living conditions of the general populace.

The Minister recounted the unprecedented economic feat in the first term of the Akufo-Addo administration, which made Ghana one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Proper policies

According to him, the socioeconomic foundation that was laid by the Akufo-Addo administration was intended to usher Ghana into a new dawn of sustainable economic growth and prosperity.

He, however, observed that the devastating and lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war on the local economy had occasioned challenges for businesses and individuals alike.

Mr Ofori-Atta assured that government was determined to get the economy back on track, and rallied the leadership of the party to support government’s remedial interventions at reviving the economy.

He indicated that government’s Extended Credit Facility agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would energise and stabilise the local economy.

He assured the leadership of the party that government had no intention to cancel the flagship Free Senior High School Programme as it remains an important social safety net to majority of Ghanaians.

Mr Ofori-Atta urged the party leadership to put in place adequate guidelines to ensure a smooth conduct of its parliamentary and presidential primaries as that is critical to the party’s quest to ‘break the eight’.

Party-government engagement

The National Chairman of the NPP, Stephen Ayesu Ntim, who led the national executives to receive the Finance Minister, disclosed that the party-government engagement was introduced due to the urgent need for broader collaboration between government appointees and party stakeholders in preparation for the 2024 general polls.

The General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, also used the occasion to bring to the attention of the Finance Minister concerns expressed by Ghanaians, particularly individual bond holders regarding the Debt Exchange Programme.

He said the party leadership continues to be inundated with these concerns, and appealed to the Finance Minister to take a critical look at the policy. He urged the Finance Minister to explore the possibility of exempting holders of smaller bonds, particularly pensioners.