Former Minister for Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has launched a scathing attack on the John Mahama administration, accusing it of mismanaging the economy and squandering opportunities to boost the country’s revenue.
“If they were good managers of the economy, they would have done hedging when the price of cocoa was high,” he said, adding that the failure to do so has resulted in a significant reduction in producer prices for farmers.
“The cocoa sector alone has exposed how poor they are,” he stated, emphasising that the mismanagement of the sector has had far-reaching implications for the country’s economy.
The former minister also criticised the Mahama administration’s economic management, questioning how an economy that is supposedly well managed could fail to pay farmers a fair price.
“How can an economy that is well managed lead to a reduction in the producer price of cocoa? That’s not economic management. It is the cocoa sector that has exposed them,” he said at the launch of an NPP aspirant’s campaign.
He accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of mismanaging the economy, arguing that its approach has been to simply pump dollars into the market.
“We warned them that economic management is not about pumping dollars into the market, because when you pump dollars into the market unreasonably, then you are looking for trouble,” he said.
Dr Amin revealed that the NDC had injected $10 billion into the market last year as an intervention to keep the cedi strong, and had already pumped over $2 billion into the economy in the first two months of this year.
He argued that this has led to an overvaluation of the cedi, making exports more expensive and less competitive. “When you overvalue your currency, it leads to international competitiveness of your exports falling,” he said.
He called on Ghanaians to reject the NDC, insisting that its policies were driven by populism rather than a genuine desire to improve the lives of citizens.
“On a purchasing power parity approach to economic analysis, when inflation is 3.8%, the currency should depreciate, but that’s not the case under the Mahama government,” he said. “You can’t have 3.8% inflation and your cedi appreciating — that’s wrong economics.”
Dr Amin further accused the NDC of creating jobs for other countries through its economic policies, describing it as “unfortunate” that Ghanaians had entrusted the country’s leadership to them.
“It’s only a matter of time, and Ghanaians will see their mistake,” he said, adding that the country would soon be given another chance to chart a new course.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com