Apraku Struggles To Admit Akufo-Addo Has Mismanaged Ghana's Economy: "We Didn't Do Everything Correctly"
- Economist Dr Konadu Apraku was recently unable to defend Akufo-Addo from accusations of economic mismanagement
- The NPP flagbearer aspirant admits that the president has poorly allocated Ghana's expenditure but said that was the same as economic mismanagement
- He told Joy News' PM Express that Akufo-Addo's first term was good but his second term was when the poor decisions started happening
Respected Ghanaian economist and NPP flagbearer aspirant Dr Konadu Apraku recently evaded a direct question from a journalist on whether Nana Akufo-Addo has mismanaged Ghana's economy.
During an interview on Joy News' PM Express, the stalwart of the governing party was asked whether he supported the government's oft-cited claim that COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war were the causes of Ghana's economic challenges.
Source: Facebook
He did not answer "yes" or "no" but suggested that the weak fundamentals of Ghana's economy were only exposed by the two external events.
"We've never had the circumstances for which we dropped so deep. We've never had the coronavirus. But yes, I have no doubt in mind that this may be the most serious," he said during the interview on the evening of July 11, 2023.
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Top economists, like Prof Steve Hanke, have slammed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for mismanaging the Ghanaian economy, especially the local currency.
Ghana recently sought a $ 3 billion bailout deal from the IMF amid a high debt overhang.
Ghana was affected too strongly by COVID-19 because of weak fundamentals
The interviewer, Evans Mensah, then asked him if he agrees with President Nana Akufo-Addo's assertion that Ghana's economy slumped because of the coronavirus and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Apraku quickly interjected, "I did not say that".
"I was commissioner in charge of macroeconomic research in all the 16-member West African countries. I know the economic policy content of every country. And I also know that the impact of this situation that we just had, coronavirus, is not the same among countries. Some countries are more resilient because the fundamentals are strong already," he explained himself.
Mismanagement is not the same as poor allocation of resources
Dr Apraku, who was the Commissioner for Economic Policy and Economic Research at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), then proceeded to praise Akufo-Addo's first term as president.
"We've had very good times in the Akufo-Addo government, the first term. And the second term things started going wrong, and that is not surprising to me," he said.
Asked why he thinks Ghana did so badly economically, he said government expenditure under Akufo-Addo went up significantly, citing this as a major reason.
"Did the expenditure go into the priority areas that will give us the greatest impact?" Apraku asked rhetorically.
Then the interviewer asked him to answer that question himself.
"If we had done that we wouldn't be in this position," he was blunt.
He added:
"If we had done everything that we should have done correctly, we would have the situation we have now in our hands...Our economy was fragile so the external factors had a strong impact on us.
Was that fragility due to mismanagement? the interviewer asked the politician and economist.
He answered:
"Well, the fragility comes from various reasons: poorly targeting expenditures and therefore not getting the results."
The interviewer interjected: "that sounds to me like the proper definition of mismanagement".
He answered:
"Mismanagement is different from poor allocation of resources."
Economic hardship in Ghana to continue as inflation goes up
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported in a separate story that Ghana's inflation rate has risen for the second successive month, according to the Ghana Statistical Service.
Prices of goods and services in June 2023 rose to 42.5% after the May 2023 figure of 42.2%.
Food inflation increased to 54.2% in June 2023 after a figure of 51.8% in May 2023.
Prof Hanke slams Akufo-Addo’s “economic stupidity”
Also, US-based economics professor Steve Hanke has jabbed President Akufo-Addo for his "economic stupidity".
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The John Hopkins scholar said Ghana was going nowhere under Nana Akufo-Addo's administration.
He also revealed that Ghana's inflation was rising sharply, and has reached 149% which is over three times higher than the official figure.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
