Spokesperson for the Vice President, Dr Gideon Boako, has announced that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia will address the nation on the state of the economy on April 7.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Asempa FM on Tuesday, March 22, Dr Boako noted that Dr Bawumia will speak on the economy at a public forum in Cape Coast.
“The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, will speak next month, in April 2022, also at a platform somewhere in Cape Coast, for you to see that the Government has rolled out a plan to deal with the issues,” he said.
There have been calls for Dr Bawumia as the leader of the Economic Management Team to publicly address the raging economic challenges, including price hikes on fuel and commodities and continuous depreciation of the Cedi.
The Vice President is expected to address how several factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which have largely contributed to economic meltdown across the globe, have impacted the Ghanaian economy, as well as measures the government has taken to address the situation.
Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the economy was thriving with positive indicators and earning positive ratings from global economic watchers.
But the situation became different when COVID-19 set in with Fitch rating Ghana’s economy as B-.
However, critics of the Vice President, especially members of the opposition NDC, have incessantly demanded that the Vice President breaks his silence on the worsening economic conditions in the country.
Meanwhile on Monday, while speaking at the launch of a mobile app for the Tertiary Education Institutions Network, at the University for Professional Studies in Accra, former President Mahama said the current state of the economy is an issue that requires prudent measures by government.
He, therefore, urged the once vociferous Dr Bawumia to speak up.
“Daily price increases, fuel price adjustments and a nose-diving currency which has rather arrested the person who said he will arrest it. The dollar has rather arrested him, and so we are looking for him.
“We can’t find him. I asked the IGP if he had the key so that we could find where our Vice President was, but he said he doesn’t have it and doesn’t know his whereabouts,” Mr Mahama said.
But Dr Boako dismissed claims that his Boss was avoiding to comment on the current challenges facing the economy, particularly the depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar.