The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has accused the previous Akufo-Addo government of causing long-term damage to Ghana’s economy, warning that the effects of policy mismanagement will take time to correct.

Mr Iddrisu says the country’s economic difficulties intensified from 2022, leaving Ghana with deep structural imbalances that cannot be quickly reversed.

“The Akufo-Addo government did long-term damage to the economy. If you look at it from 2022, the economy went into an abyss. It will take time to redress the structural imbalance and some of the problems visited on the Ghanaian economy,” he said.

He further noted that the economic downturn could not be attributed solely to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting macroeconomic indicators such as high inflation and a depreciated cedi as evidence of mismanagement.

“Not just COVID-19, but you had an economy where inflation reached 54 per cent, later coming down to 23 per cent. You had a dollar to cedi exchange rate at GH¢16. That is unacceptable; it increased the cost of doing business and crushed the private sector,” Mr Iddrisu noted in an interview with Channel One TV.