National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, says the party will have little difficulty retaining power in the next general election if the government maintains its current pace of work.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, he said he was satisfied with the progress made by the government so far and expressed confidence that continued improvements would strengthen the NDC’s chances.

“I’m happy about what we have been able to achieve so far. I’m praying that we should be able to maintain the pace, or even improve from what we have done, and it will not be difficult for us to retain the seat,” he said.

The NDC chairman identified economic stabilisation as the key achievement that gives him confidence about the government’s performance.

He said controlling major economic indicators is critical because it lays the foundation for growth, investment, and job creation.

“The fundamentals in the economy, because the stabilisation in the economy is the key prerequisite for you to achieve anything. If the economy is not stabilised the way we have tried to do, you can’t do anything,” he said.

According to him, the government has made progress in managing the depreciation of the cedi, inflation and other important economic indicators.

“So we’ve gotten control over the depreciation of the cedi, we’ve gotten control over the inflation rate, and then these two key parameters, and then our debt-to-GDP ratios, our recurrent expenditure versus total expenditure, and all the key indicators are pointing in the right direction,” he said.

Mr Asiedu Nketiah explained that a stable economy creates the conditions for businesses to access affordable capital, expand operations and create jobs.

He said interest rates are linked to inflation and that bringing inflation down allows for lower lending rates that support investment.

“The interest rate cannot be fixed arbitrarily. The interest rate is always related to the inflation rate,” he said.

He added that when businesses are able to make profits, they can expand and employ more people.

“The more businesses make profit, the more they are able to expand and create jobs, and so on,” he said.

Beyond economic management, the NDC chairman said the government is also focused on creating the right environment for growth through infrastructure development.

He pointed to road construction and other infrastructure projects as part of efforts to support economic activity.

“Apart from that, there is the whole area of creating the enabling environment that includes provision of the right infrastructure. That is why we are focusing so much on the road construction and other infrastructure projects that will create an environment,” he said.