Managing editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has hit back at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for having the guts to talk about the exchange rate stability today.
Kwesi Pratt Jnr asserted that the NPP took over when the dollar rate was 3.4 cedis to 1 dollar and left it at 16 cedis.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, Kwesi Pratt Jnr stated, “My brother, you are talking about exchange rate stability today, shocking, why, you take over at a time when the dollar rate was 3.4 cedis to 1 dollar, today the rate is 16 cedis to a dollar and you are telling us about exchange rate stability”.
As if words don’t mean anything, exchange rate stability from 3.4 to a dollar 16 to a dollar and you are talking about exchange rate stability. It is just completely baffling”, he added.
According to Kwesi Pratt Jnr, at a point Ken Ofori-Atta before he exited office needed One hundred twenty-eight per cent of the total national revenue for debt servicing, debt repayment and public sector emoluments.
He added, “Look we have come to the point where according to Ken Ofori-Atta before he exited office we needed One hundred twenty-eight per cent of the total national revenue for three items, debt servicing, debt repayment and public sector emoluments that were a bankrupt state.
So, where is the resurgence in the economy, this is the state of the economy and this state of the economy can only be referred to as bankrupt”.
Kwesi Pratt further detailed, that for ordinary Ghanaians or normal Ghanaians to judge the State of the economy they use their own lives to judge.
The veteran Journalist added, “For the ordinary Ghanaians, normal Ghanaians and so on if they are to judge the State of the economy and they use their own lives to judge the state of the economy, what conclusion can they come to?
Prices of every item have escalated, in some cases as much about a thousand per cent and then you tell us the state of the economy and so on, you took over when a ball of Kenkey was 50 pesewas, and you left office with the same ball of kenkey at 5 cedis and you are telling me about the resilient economy that you left, what resilient national economy”.
Meanwhile, the former Minister of State Abena Osei-Asare further has fired shots at President Mahama for deliberately ignoring the economic recovery achieved under the previous NPP administration in his SONA.
She added, “The NPP has never shied away from acknowledging the economic challenges that Ghana faced, but we took decisive and responsible actions to put the economy back on the path of recovery, culminating in the IMF giving the economy a clean bill of health,”
“Depositors’ funds were protected during the financial sector clean-up, preventing the total collapse of the banking industry.
“The banking sector’s total assets rose from GH¢81.2 billion in December 2016 to GH¢367.2 billion in October 2024. Private sector credit increased by 28.8% in 2024, compared to negative 7.5% in 2023, showing strong financial recovery”, the former minister stated.
She continued, “The cedi remained stable, moving from GH₵12.4 per dollar in December 2023 to GH₵14.50 per dollar in December 2024—a controlled depreciation considering external pressures”.
“He was quick to highlight the $250 million in the sinking fund at the end of 2016 but conveniently ignored the $1 billion due for external debt repayments in 2017, which the NPP had to manage”.
“Real GDP growth averaged 6.3% in 2024, led by Industry at 10.4%. We achieved a positive primary balance of 0.4% in November 2024 compared to the negative 1.4% of GDP in 2016. Total revenue exceeded its target by 3.3%. The signs of economic recovery were clear”, she mentioned.
Watch the video below:
NPP has the guts to talk about exchange rate stability today? – Kwesi Pratt hits back at NPP’s #SONA#GoodMorningGhana #MetroTV pic.twitter.com/y4nCl2oakM
— Metro TV Ghana (@metrotvgh) <a
