The Minority has insisted that former President John Mahama bequeathed a robust economy to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

The caucus says the economy that was handed President Akufo-Addo's government in 2016 had strong buffers, but mismanagement and incompetence have derailed same.

A press statement issued by the Minority and signed by its leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, said they will not accept any blame for the government's poor performance.

"The economy that the NDC’s John Mahama government bequeathed to the Akufo-Addo/ Bawumia regime was far better than what Ghana has today. This is because the NPP inherited a public debt that was sustainable at 56% of GDP; the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has increased public debt to 103% of GDP with very little to show. In nominal terms, they inherited a public debt of GHS 120 billion, which they have increased to approximately GHS600 billion with very little to show."

"Again, the NDC left behind a robust economy with very strong buffers. The Mahama government left behind the Sinking Fund, Stabilisation Fund, Ghana Infrastructure Investment Bank (GIIF), and Ghana EXIM Bank as well as robust tax revenue and oil revenue from three oil fields which the NPP used to kickstart their administration. Yet they have very little to show and have collapsed the economy on their watch."

This follows the Finance Minister's advice to Ghanaians to refrain from directly attacking the leadership of the Bank of Ghana.

• No need to attack leadership of BoG; Governor Addison is competent – Ofori-Atta  

According to him, all efforts will be made to restore the balance sheet of the Central Bank in the medium term, continue to improve the efficiency of their operations and resort to the government for recapitalisation over the medium to long term if necessary.

This has been indicated by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank in their 2022 annual reports.

“As the Minister for Finance, I do have opinions about the reforms needed to strengthen the governance of many financial institutions including the Bank of Ghana. But this requires a positive and sober national debate on the governance structure; should we, for example, revisit a separate chairmanship and governorship (such was the case prior to Governor Dr. Agama’s years) and whether our democracy and institutional experience support Governors playing both board leadership and management roles as enshrined in our laws”, he indicated in an article titled “Standing strong with the Central Bank."

• Many central banks have incurred losses; BoG is not exception – Ofori-Atta

“We also need to have the discourse for policy clarity on what the operational independence of the Central Bank implies, especially in a Lower-Middle Income Country and transformational economies such as ours. I do personally believe that Central Banks must have independence in executing their monetary policy mandate especially if it is based on a price target, where the government sets the price targets, and Central Banks, in our case, BoG, independently uses its operational tools to achieve it”, he pointed out.

But the NDC MPs maintained that the governor has been irresponsible and does not deserve to remain in office.