Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has advised critics of the Akufo-Addo government not to resort to insults if they disagree with data on the country’s economy. 

The Chairman of the Economic Management Committee (EMT) at Wednesday’s Town Hall Meeting at the College of Surgeon’s and Physicians in Accra said, “as always is based on analysis of the data and the facts.”

“The data will speak for itself if you disagree you should bring your own data and your record...don't disagree by saying the EMT members have big heads. You only resort to insults when you are allergic to facts," Dr Bawumia said. 

He said at the heart of the country’s recurrent economic difficulties has been the management of public finances, especially during election years and the challenges in cleaning up the post-election fiscal mess.

“Our public financial management and our fiscal excesses, particularly in the run-up to the 2012 elections were very damaging to our prospects of managing an economy that is trying to climb up the middle-income ladder. The economy ended in 2012 with a fiscal deficit of 12.2% of GDP, 11.7%  in 2013, 11.9% in 2014 before falling to 6.7% in 2015 but rose again to 9.3% in 2016.

“We recorded for the first time in Ghana’s history double-digit fiscal deficits in three consecutive years and plunged into a deep fiscal hole. Debt pileup began, debt service became burdensome on the budget, inflation soared, external trade balances worsened and the economy became more and more vulnerable to external shocks,” Dr. Bawumia said. 

Watch the presentation.