President Akufo-Addo has affirmed that the country's ability to navigate the challenges of the spiralling economy will be hard and long.

Delivering the State of Nation Address (SONA 2022) at Parliament on Tuesday, the President asserted that government has taken realistic steps to overturn the economic downturn, although it won't be an easy task.

“The road to recovery will be hard and long, Mr Speaker, but we have started on a good footing by accepting that we are in a difficult place and are taking the difficult decisions that will get us out,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo also implored Ghanaians to help get the country back on track.

“Mr Speaker, there are many problems and we have to overcome them to get back to where we ought to be. I need your support; no President, no government could undertake this all by themselves; I need all Ghanaians to pull and push together,” he added.

According to him, “If anyone ever had any doubts about the need to be self-reliant, the point has now been forcibly drilled home to us”, adding that the pursuit of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda is even more compelling now.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that we have it in us to build the Ghana of our dreams. I saw the spirit of togetherness and the willingness to help each other when COVID struck,” he noted.

For this reason, President Akufo-Addo urged Ghanaians to remain optimistic about the economy's recovery.

“Let us, more than ever, hold our heads up high and face the future with courage, hope and assurance. Let us recall our age-old Ghanaian values of hard work, enterprise, solidarity, dignity and hospitality.

"Look around you, believe in Ghana, and be inspired by Ghana. We will bounce back together,” he said.

Touching on the challenges confronting citizens, President Akufo-Addo stated that his administration is aware of Ghanaians' numerous economic challenges and is working to address them.

According to him, the government was on the path of significant progress and development until the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He said many actions that have been taken by government since taking office in 2017 have begun to bear fruit, putting Ghana on the path of prosperity between 2017 and 2020.

“Then COVID rose. This is not something that anyone could have planned for, and the consequences are there for us all to see around the world.

"The economic devastation of COVID has since the beginning of the year been further aggravated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has worsened the economic outlook of the entire world, and we in Ghana have not escaped this development,” he said in his speech in Parliament.