Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has amazed many with his economic discernment after predicting a rebound for Ghana’s economic turmoil in a speech he delivered some month ago.
Speaking, Dr. Bawumia recognized the slump economic reality but also noted that the government in the pipe has set out measures to revive stability in the economy.
After his speech less than a month, the market has seen upward turnover as the cedi has strongly appreciated against the $US Dollar, fuel prices have decreased and other prices of goods and services are gradually returning to a stable level.
Addressing a grand durbar of the Chiefs and people of Suhum during the Suhum Odwira Festival on November 26th, 2022, the Vice President spoke under the theme, “Development in Unity”.
Bawumia in his comments confidently predicted an economic turnaround despite current economic hardship, stating a strong rebound of economic recovery which will alleviate the plight of Ghanaians.
The Vice President’s confidence was reposed in the policies government had put in place to combat the economic downturn.
“We all know that currently, Ghana’s economic condition is quite difficult. Every single day, prices of goods such as petrol, rice, and many others are rising. This is a global phenomenon. But in Ghana, the government is putting in place measures to combat this global phenomenon and bring relief to our people.
“We are focused on bringing solutions to these issues and very soon, these solutions would start to take effect. By the grace of God, the price of petrol would soon reduce, by the Grace of God transport fares would also reduce and by the grace of God, the prices of goods and services would also be reduced drastically because of new policies we are putting into effect. By the grace of God, we should all have patience because we are going to implement something new and the depreciation of the cedi would also be halted”
Ghana’s economic reboots
Over the week, the Ghana Cedi has strongly appreciated against the $ U.S. dollar, after a year of almost continuous depreciation.
From a steep low of almost Ghc 17 to a dollar, the currency has pulled back, trading at an average rate of Ghc 9.70 to the dollar on December 15th, 2022.
Bloomberg adjudged the cedi the best-performing currency globally against the dollar.
“The cedi has rallied 10% in the past five days, the biggest advance among about 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. That’s a turnaround for an exchange rate that had lost half of its value this year and occupied the bottom slot in the charts,” Bloomberg noted in a report dated December 10th, 2022.
Fuel prices have also seen modest decreases in recent weeks, and prices of goods and services are slow to match the appreciation.
Ghana reached a preliminary, staff-level agreement with the International monetary fund (IMF) on a three-year funding package worth $3 billion on December 13th.
The loan is aimed at restoring and sustaining Ghana’s economy after suffering economic hardship.
