Former Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Professor Emeritus Stephen Adei, has said that the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was over-ambitious with some of the policies and programmes it outlined.
Professor Adei intimated that the government failed to consider the country's resources before coming up with some of its policies and programmes.
"It is clear that they were internal policy over ambition. It is like if you spend all your money on expensive cloth and you have nothing (no money) to sow it. I think that they miscalculated," he said in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb.
Touching on the measures President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo outlined to get the country out of the current hardship, Prof Stephen Adei said that most of the things the president mentioned are already being implemented but are not working.
"When it came to the expenditure control, basically, he said that he is going to continue the 30% reduction (in the pay of government appointees). But it has been there, and it has not solved the problem.
"He still has his bloated government, but he did not talk about that. And again, at this state, in the short run, we have to review some of the flagship programmes… when you are under a serious crisis, I think that there must be a dispassionate review.
"Even calling on parents to say that, (through) free SHS, you have free books, free tuition, but you must pay for your children's food and accommodation," he said.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during his address on Sunday, admitted that times are hard economically and that his government is working assiduously to provide relief to the citizenry.
He stressed in an address on the economy that his administration was ready to work towards restoring and resetting the economy on the path of progress and stability.
These views were contained in his October 30, 2022, address to the nation on the state of the economy.
"For us, in Ghana, our reality is that our economy is in great difficulty. The budget drawn for the 2022 fiscal year has been thrown out of gear, disrupting our balance of payments and debt sustainability, and further exposing the structural weaknesses of our economy.
"We are in a crisis; I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time," he added.
"But, as we have shown in other circumstances, we shall turn this crisis into an opportunity to resolve not just the short-term, urgent problems but the long-term structural problems that have bedevilled our economy.
"I urge us all to see the decision to go to the International Monetary Fund in this light," he stressed.
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Professor Emeritus Stephen Adei (left), President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (right)