The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to address Ghanaians on specific measures taken by government to put the economy back on track today at 1 pm.

He is expected to highlight the outcome of deliberations during the cabinet’s three-day retreat at Peduase lodge over the last weekend.

Some of the reliefs to be announced include reopening land borders, easing of Covid-19 restrictions, and measures to arrest the depreciating cedi.

Ghana’s current public debt stock stands at a staggering ¢341.8 billion with a corresponding debt to GDP ratio of more than 77% as of September ending 2021.

This means if the country should share this amount across the country’s 30.8 million population, everyone will owe approximately ¢11,000.

In terms of interest payments on our borrowings, Ghana has spent, on average, ¢147 billion, which is ¢47 billion more than our projected revenue plus grants for 2022.

Government’s response

President Akufo-Addo, while admitting the economy is in dire straits, says he is optimistic the challenges confronting the country will last for only a short while.

According to him, the country’s economic woes are not unique as other countries face similar setbacks.

“It is no secret that our economy is going through difficult times. It is also no secret that we are not alone in that exercise. The phenomenon that we’re facing applies to many parts of the world as well. But that doesn’t, therefore, mean that government is impotent in trying to find solutions.

“Our retreat which you referred to is in some way quite timely, because as a general rule, we have retreats each year every quarter, and this is the first one for this year. Fortunately for us, it coincided with these difficulties and the public anxiety about how the economy was going.

“It gave us, therefore, the opportunity of the three days to look at the depth, where the economy was headed, and what measures were necessary to be taken”, President Akufo-Addo stated during a meeting with the Council of State members on Tuesday.

The most prominent of the actions government is taking is the reduction of salaries of executive appointees by up to 30%.

Government has also announced it will pump an amount of $2 billion into the economy to curb the continuous depreciation of the cedi.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana is expected to increase the policy rate to 17%.

Council of State members reduce allowances

Members of the Council of State have resolved to reduce their monthly allowances by 20% until the end of the year due to the country’s economic challenges.

According to the Chairman of the Council, Nana Otuo Serebour II, the move is to help them identify with Ghanaians amid the difficulties people are facing.

“Mr President, in tandem with your decision, we as the Council of State have also decided that we will reduce our monthly allowances by 20% until the end of this year. This move is our way of contributing our widow’s mite to our total efforts towards economic recovery,” he said.