Running mate for New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Dr Mamudu Bawumiah says the increment in government wage bill was anticipated by the Kufuor administration when it introduced the SSSS shortly before they exited power. Dr Bawumiah said it was not surprising that the wage bill had doubled from Ghc 2.4 billion to Ghc 4.8 billion as President Mills announced in Sunyani at a Parade to commemorate the May Day celebrations Tuesday. He noted that prior to the introduction of the SSSS, the NPP administration had moved the economy from HIPIC to a middle income economy, and knew the new pay policy would absorb the wage bill. Dr. Bawumiah noted in an interview on Adom Fm’s Dwaso Nsem on Wednesday, prior to his speech on the “State of the economy” at the Ferdinand Ofori Ayim Memorial Lectures in Accra, that vigorous efforts needed to be made to transform the economy from what he termed a “Guggisberg economy” into a manufacturing economy. The former Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana said this is the sure way of helping local businesses to expand and create jobs. “If the economic indicators are so unprecedented, then why are exchange rates falling like a brick?”, he asked. He stated that government's failure to create jobs has resulted in the rise of youth unemployment.