Ghana�s Economy No Longer In Intensive Care Unit - Fifi Kwetey

The Deputy Minister for Finance, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey says the economy of Ghana is no longer in the Intensive Care Unit in which the Kufuor administration left it. According to him, the economy is now flamboyant as the government has managed to reduce inflation rate which was in double digits in the era of the NPP. He added that with prudent management of the economy, the country has now recorded a single digit inflation rate of 8.2% which the NPP could not achieve in its eight-year rule. Mr. Fifi Kwetey said this in reaction to the Minority�s assertion that the economy is in shambles and that the Agric sector is shrinking. Speaking on Adom FM Monday, the Deputy Finance Minister said the government intends to reduce the inflation rate further to improve the lives of Ghanaians. He maintained that reduction in inflation rate is reflecting in the pockets of the ordinary Ghanaian. "An economy that is achieving the performance of 7.7% growth last year, you cannot call it a dying economy. Of course we have not been able to turn the nation into paradise over the last two-and-half-years. What we have achieved in the last two-and-half-years, they struggled eight years to feel a tip of what we have achieved, so my friends in the NPP I can understand their predicament, it�s a very difficult job for them," Mr. Fifi Kwetey stressed. In a quick rebuttal, a Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, said demand of goods and services is artificially suppressed by the government to achieve the single digit inflation rate. The NPP Member of Parliament for Dormaa West in the Brong Ahafo Region, accused government of artificially causing deflation where prices of goods have been stabilized with no or little money to buy thus leaving traders with no choice but to maintain old prices. This trend he said is putting many Ghanaians out of business, because many are simply not breaking even. Mr. Agyemang Manu admitted that inflation is an enemy of the economy so it is in our interest to bring it down, but was quick to say prices of food commodities were not as stable as Ghanaians were being told. He said the Agric sector is shrinking, but the government has not made it a priority.