National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer hopeful, Dr Kwabena Duffuor says he will fix the ailing Ghanaian economy within two years of his presidency if elected in 2024.

“The bush rat does not go out in the afternoon but when it does, there is a problem. That is why I’m out to solve that problem”, he told hundreds of delegates who had gathered at the Afienya Youth Training Institute.

“I’m in the contest because I want to take you out of the current economic challenges. We are hungry as Ghanaians despite the abundance of resources”, he added.

Dr Duffuor then rolled out his plan for prosperity in Ghana by 2026.

“In my first year, the dollar will go down and the cedi will rise again to make the economy more robust. Then in the second year, growth will accelerate.”

He said despite being a major cocoa and gold exporter, Ghana is currently battling its worst financial crisis in decades with inflation hovering at a record 50.3 per cent, the highest in 21 years. As inflation surges, rising prices keep the cost of living unbearably high for Ghanaians.

President Akufo-Addo conceded in a recent address to the nation that the country is in crisis and blamed it on external shocks – the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Despite this worrying background, Dr Kwabena Duffuor who was Finance Minister under the John Evans Atta-Mills presidency says his plan to bring the country to prosperity will materialise within two years if he is elected president.

“We have done it before under Prof. Atta-Mills and we can do it again”, he told the enthusiastic delegates.

Ghana achieved its best GDP growth rate of 14.4% in 2011, exactly two years after Dr Duffuor took office as Minister for Finance and Economic Planning.

He now wants to be president at a time the country’s economy is in great difficulty.

Dr Duffour’s tour of the Greater Accra Region is taking him to Ningo Prampram, Kpone Katamanso and Ashaiman.