Outgoing president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has firmly dismissed assertions by individuals he described as "propagandists," that Ghana is broke.

Addressing Parliament on Friday, January 3, in his final State of the Nation Address, the President acknowledged the significant economic challenges the country faced in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Akufo-Addo stated that the economy took a bigger hit than anticipated, with the country facing "uncustomed trouble" in 2021 and 2022.

He stated that the government's difficulties in Parliament, with a slim majority, had led international rating agencies to downgrade the country's economic prospects, based on the assumption that the government would struggle to get financial policy measures passed.

President Akufo-Addo stated that the government had taken decisive action, applying for an IMF support programme, the Post-COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG), which was implemented in mid-2023.

He noted that despite the challenges, the country had successfully passed through three successive reviews by the IMF board, with the most recent review approved on December 2, 2024, leading to the disbursement of $360 million.

The President then revealed that the government is handing over the country with gross international reserves of almost $8 billion, which is more than the $6.2 billion inherited in 2017.

This, he said, was clear evidence that “the country is not broke, as some propagandists want us to believe."

The President attributed the economic position to the resilience and understanding of the Ghanaian people, coupled with the strategic measures implemented by his government.

He expressed confidence that the economy has recovered strongly and faster than projected, with the crisis now considered over.