Managing editor of the New Crusading Guide newspaper Kweku Baako has criticized managers of the economy for  failing to meet economic targets and yet compare its performance as better than countries in West Africa.

"We are celebrating ineptitude, technical incompetence", he said on Joy FM's Newsfile Saturday.

Expressing  cynicism about Ghana economic performance, Kweku Baako said there is not much to convince him that government was going to do better in 2014.

The government of President John Mahama is under pressure to rein in its budget deficit, which has cast a shadow over an economy growing rapidly because of oil exports in addition to gold and cocoa production.

But in a measure of fiscal problems it is likely to miss key 2013 budget targets, which included limiting the deficit to 9 percent of GDP and holding inflation under 11 percent.

The government will also come up short of a deficit target of 8 percent of GDP this year, though officials blame this on a fall in commodity prices, energy crisis and the protracted opposition challenge to Mahama's election in December.

Government says it will seek to trim its budget deficit to 8.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2014.

The Minister of State in charge of Allied and Financial Institutions, Fifi Kwetey has  compared Ghana's economic performance to countries in West Africa and concluded the country is better off.

According to Mr. Kwetey, Ghana recorded a GDP growth of 7.4 per cent as against a projected growth of 8 per cent. He argues that Ghana's performance in GDP is better than the 4.9 per cent for sub-Saharan Africa, 5.3 per cent for oil producing countries and 3.2 per cent as the global average.

But Kwaku Baako is unimpressed by his analysis because, it celebrates "piecemeal" progress in the economy. He is questioning why the "unprecedented" budget deficit arose in the first place.

He says government was unable to meet targets it set in 2013 and has done nothing to show it will meet those set for 2014.

"You set targets. You are unable to meet it then you say on the regional level, global level we are better off..that's celebration of mediocrity".

Backing Baako's position, former Finance Minister, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei also said  even in this comparison Ghana was last as far as meeting the requirement for the adoption of a common currency for West Africa was concerned.

The Member of Parliament for Tafo Pankrono said: "We should not be happy, I'm not saying [comparing Ghana to ] West Africa is very good, but even in mediocrity, we are last".

In 2013, Ghana met only one out of four convergence criteria needed to be met by some West African states planning to adopt one currency, ECO. All five other countries - Nigeria, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea - did better than Ghana.

Dr. Akoto Osei said economic growth should not be the only indicator of progress as celebrated by Fifi Kwetey.

He said it is appalling Ghana managed to meet only one out of four criteria in meeting the convergence criteria for ECO as compared to Nigeria (4 out of 4), Liberia and Sierra Leone, post-conflict states (3 out of 4) as well as The Gambia and Guinea (2 out of 4).

"It is appalling that post-conflict states are meeting the criteria and we are supposed to be doing better", he said.