Rejoinder: Ghana attains middle income status (http://news.myjoyonline.com/business/201011/55470.asp) I am compelled to write this short rejoinder due to what I consider as misrepresentation of an earlier interview I granted on Joy FM’s News Night on the above subject. My specific answers to what our “new middle income” status meant for us were as follows: 1. It would inflate public expectations of government, when government realistically does not have the wherewithal to satisfy the many new challenges. Also, it was dangerous to include our yet-to-be quantified oil revenues in the rebasing of the economy. This caution, I urged also because government itself has asked for restraint in the expectation of what our oil can do for us. 2. Second, I said this announcement would have repercussions for our debt service attitude, especially our deficit to GDP ratio. And I asked, does it mean the quantum of our debts is automatically reduced? 3. Finally I said, our donor partners might conclude that we do not need any help again, not that I necessarily believe in aid as the way to develop an economy, but however much get misused, at least a little trickles to the poor. With this announcement and with an uncertain oil economy, wouldn’t it have been better managing this announcement? Suffice to know that Mr. Nathan Dagadu did not even mention the first important point or deliberately left it out and focused on a passing comment I made which ironically he seemed to have captured rather well. I hope it is not the case with other commentators on radio. Otherwise, I would recommend that Joy FM’s transcriptions are followed through thoroughly and if need be, the transcript be put out again. Respectfully yours, Franklin Cudjoe Franklin Cudjoe is head of Ghanaian think tank, IMANI, a non-profit, non-government organization dedicated to fostering public awareness of important policy issues concerning business, government and civil society. He is also editor of AfricanLiberty.org The Foreign Policy Magazine named IMANI, the fifth most influential think tank in Africa in 2010. Franklin was named Young Global Leader 2010 by the World Economic Forum.