The Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has accused former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia of changing his position on the importance of exchange rate stability in assessing Ghana’s economic performance.
Mr Kwakye Ofosu argues that Dr Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, previously placed considerable emphasis on the stability of the cedi but is now downplaying the indicator in his assessment of the economy under President John Dramani Mahama’s administration.
The exchange follows Dr Bawumia’s recent criticism of the government’s economic management, in which he questioned whether improvements in inflation and the performance of the cedi had translated into meaningful relief for ordinary Ghanaians.
The former Vice President has described the current situation as a “paper economy” and a “pocket economy”, arguing that improved macroeconomic indicators do not necessarily reflect the financial realities confronting households struggling with the cost of living.
Speaking in an interview with Citi FM on Monday, October 19, Mr Kwakye Ofosu challenged Dr Bawumia to reconcile his current position with his previous public statements on exchange rate stability.
“Today, Bawumia says that stability is not important. I can send you about three different clips of him prior to the 2024 elections in which he stoutly defended stability,” he said.
He further questioned the former Vice President’s earlier emphasis on the exchange rate as a major measure of economic performance, asking: “Was he not the one who told us that the most important indicator in an economy like ours is the exchange rate? Was he not the one who told us this in 2014?”
Mr Kwakye Ofosu also defended the Mahama administration’s economic record, insisting that the country’s key performance indicators had improved compared with the situation inherited from the previous government.
He acknowledged, however, that more work remained to be done to improve economic conditions for Ghanaians.
“The truth is that every single measure of economic performance today is better than he left it,” he said, adding that the government would continue working to improve the situation.
“Of course, it can always get better. There is no dispute about that, and we will continue to work assiduously as a government to ensure that things get better than they are today,” he added.