COVID-19: Ghana’s ‘robust’ economy can afford policy interventions – Oppong Nkrumah

The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the country’s fight against the novel coronavirus is possible because of the resilient economy it has built in the past few years.

According to him, the robust economy built by the government since it assumed office in January 2017 has enabled it to embark on the many interventions and programmes undertaken since the first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Ghana in March 2020.

Last Sunday, the President, Nana Akufo-Addo announced a policy objective to construct 94 new district and regional hospitals in areas without government hospitals.

The President also made a further announcement of the construction of three infectious disease centres to be built in the northern, middle and southern belts of the country.

The announcements have elicited a debate over whether or not the country’s economy is able to cater for the announced projects.

Some people have indicated that the government cannot finance the projects because the economy is not resilient enough.

But the Information Minister, at a press briefing on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, gave the assurances that “our current economic positioning is a major reason for which we are able to marshal the resources to execute a good number of the interventions we are introducing today.”

“Moving forward, the state of our economy will be key in our ability to introduce the necessary interventions to win the various battles in this war,” he noted.

While indicating that the basis for such concerns is genuine, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the country’s economy has significantly improved and now able to afford the programmes and interventions being introduced by the government in the COVID-19 fight.

“It makes sense why some may question whether or not Ghana can afford all the interventions the President has outlined in the past about 8 weeks of the COVID-19 response program. This question is justified because looking at our recent economic position, and the gains made recently as a nation, there is the genuine fear that we may be unable to afford the interventions or may end up overstretched if indeed we push through to execute them all,” he said.

“Between Jan 2017 and now, however, Ghana has made major strides in correcting the precarious economic conditions it found itself in. Our fiscal position has improved and our macro position has significantly improved. The combined effect of improved fiscal position and improved macro position is what enables us to afford the interventions which are being introduced as part of the COVID-19 response program. We have significantly improved national revenues, trimmed our deficit and yielded a resilient macro position against which we can finance the intervention programs” he added.

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