Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has admitted that the Ghanaian economy is not in normal times.
The situation, Mr Ofori-Atta, has blamed on the covid-19 pandemic which has brought world economies to their knees and the protracted Russia and Ukraine war.
“In February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine, a situation that worsened the already weakened global supply chains, exacerbated by high financing conditions, the surging food, fertilizer, financing, building materials and fuel prices that manifested in soaring inflation domestically. These have had a debilitating toll on the cost and standard of living of our people,” he said.
The Minister made these remarks while presenting the 2022 mid-year budget review in Parliament on Monday.
“Mr Speaker, this state of affairs is quite painful for me to report to you. It is hard to see our people lament the prices of basic commodities. These are difficult times for Government and indeed for the Finance Minister.
“It is agonising to hear our food producers complain about the cost of hauling foodstuffs from
farm gates to market centres. This is not how we envisioned the economy. This is not what we planned and worked hard for,” he lamented.
He has however pledged the commitment of the Akufo-Addo-led government to turn around the fortunes of the economy.
“Recent challenges have overtaken us. Our duty is to work through these challenges and overcome them and this is exactly what keeps the President and his team awake at night,” he assured.