The Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has noted that Ghana has not been exempted from the extremely global challenges in the last two years.
He says the challenges have affected businesses and families, particularly the vulnerable in society.
According to him, the government has not been able to provide jobs to meet the demands of the youth, raising the cost of living among others due to the global challenges.
Delivering the 2024 Mid-Year-Budget Tuesday, July 23, 2024, he noted that the times have been difficult, adding that he empathises with Ghanaians in that regard.
“Mr. Speaker, the last two years have been extremely challenging globally, and
Ghana has not been an exception. The difficult economic environment has truly affected businesses and families, particularly the vulnerable in our society.
“These challenges have severely affected households, increased the cost of living and limited the creation of job opportunities. Our young people continue to seek employment opportunities beyond what the State can provide. It has, indeed, Mr. Speaker, been a difficult time and I empathise with our entire fellow Ghanaians,” he indicated.
The Minister, however, added that government has, within the period, implemented some policies which have started yielding fruits.
He noted that growth has exceeded expectation, with the 3.1 per cent projection for the first quarter of the year becoming 4.7 per cent.
“Mr. Speaker, over the last two years, Government has embarked on a number of decisive measures to get us back on the path of fiscal consolidation, economic stability and growth. I am happy to note that these policies that we have implemented are yielding the expected results.
* Growth continues to exceed our expectations. The 4.7 percent growth rate
reported by the Ghana Statistical Service for first quarter 2024 exceeds the
revised target of 3.1 percent;
* Inflation is declining. End-June inflation rate of 22.8 percent, a reduction of
31 percentage points since December, 2022, confirms the target threshold of
+/-2 of 15 percent by end 2024 is possible;
* Exchange rate has largely stabilised, compared to December, 2022, despite the recent pressures. The 18.6 percent depreciation rate to the US Dollar as of June 2024, represents an improvement over the 22.0 percent recorded for the same period last year; and
* Gross International Reserves reached 3.1 months of import as at end June
2024 against 2.5 months of imports in the same period last year.
Source:onuaonline.com