Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke, has identified Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the cause of the country’s problems.
According to him, even though the Vice President rode on the back of coming to solve the problems of the country, he is rather doing the opposite by creating problems.
Professor Hanke’s comment comes on the back of the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against major trading currencies especially the US dollar.
“#Ghana's VP Bawumia says he's "into politics to help people solve problems." SPOILER ALERT: Bawumia is the one CREATING the problems. Today, I measure GHA's inflation at a stunning 81%/yr, nearly 2.5 TIMES the official rate,” he tweeted on September 20.
Professor Hanke who has taken a keen interest in the economic issues of Ghana in a separate tweet said Ghana’s economy was tanking – an expression which means the economy is down and there are fears of a recession.
He has in the past blamed the Akufo-Addo-led administration for putting the economy in a dire situation.
“Ghana is in 8th place in this week's inflation table. On Sep 8, I measured Ghana's #inflation at a stunning 81%/yr--over 2x the official inflation rate of 34%/yr. #Ghana's economy is TANKING. To rein in inflation, GHA must install a currency board,” he tweeted on September 19.
“Today, I measure #Ghana's inflation at 81%/yr. As a result, Ghanaians don't know the price of anything anymore. When Ghanaians see their grocery bills soar, they can thank Pres. Akufo-Addo,” Prof Hanke further teased.
Ghana’s economy has been hard hit according to the government by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and banking sector clean-up.
The rippling effect has been an increase in the cost of living, record high inflation rates and downgrades of the economy by rating agencies such as S&P and Fitch – a situation which has dealt a heavy blow to government’s ability to access the international capital market.
The Cedi has also been on a free fall compelling the Bank of Ghana to resort to hiking its monetary policy rate to deal with the situation.
The worsening economic situation compelled the government in July to initiate contact with International Monetary Fund for an economic support programme.
Ghana is said to be targeting an amount of US$3 billion over three years from the International Monetary Fund once an agreement on a programme is reached. The new amount requested as a loan was double the government’s initial target of $1.5 billion.
Government hopes to complete negotiations by end of the year in order to receive the funds in the first quarter of next year.
#Ghana's VP Bawumia says he's "into politics to help people solve problems." SPOILER ALERT: Bawumia is the one CREATING the problems. Today, I measure GHA's inflation at a stunning 81%/yr, nearly 2.5 TIMES the official rate.https://t.co/mzJrLXRztG
Professor Steve Hanke and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia