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THE RULING National Democratic Congress (NDC) is expected to receive further bashing as the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) prepares to give a blow-by-blow response to criticisms of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia�s speech by the Mills government. DAILY GUIDE has gathered that top NPP gurus are on the drawing board seriously collating all the criticisms received so far from the NDC, and may issue appropriate responses in the coming week. The NPP vice presidential candidate�s economic analysis delivered at the 5th Ferdinand O. Ayim Memorial Lectures, titled �True State of the Economy,� has raised serious questions about the validity of the glowing macro-economic indices being touted by the NDC. He concluded that the impressive economic figures did not correlate with the realities on the ground as the cost of living was hitting the roof. Dr Bawumia, an economist and former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, questioned the basis of the vast contradiction between the Mills government�s macro-economic figures and the economic hardships being experienced across the country. According to NPP sources, the NDC had failed to give appropriate answers to the dire economic picture painted by Dr. Bawumia and had rather resorted to personal attacks on the NPP running mate. Critics contend that the sporadic rebuttals from the NDC might be signs of panic within the ruling party, whose image has received serious battering as a result of the Bawumia expos�. Several critics of the NDC have had problems with what they see as an uncoordinated response to the Bawumia challenge. While some government officials have criticized the motive for his analysis, some have dismissed the figures as partisan propaganda. Some government officials have even hinted at Dr. Bawumia�s possible beef with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). The Finance Ministry has described his analysis as �intellectually dishonest�. Fiifi Kwetey, Deputy Minister of Finance and a chief propagandist of the NDC, is quoted to have questioned the intellectual capacity of Dr. Bawumia, describing him as a �hypocrite� who had the �audacity� to question government�s economic achievements instead of praising it; while Dr. Tony Aidoo, Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation at the Presidency, told Joy FM Friday; �He (Bawumia) doesn�t have the knowledge and maybe he wants to cut his political teeth. Let him find a stone soft enough so that he does not break his teeth.� Deputy Minister of Finance, Seth Terkpeh, described Dr Bawumia�s speech against the Mills administration as an exaggeration. The Finance Ministry, on Thursday, issued a statement signed by a media liaison, Abdul Hakim Ahmed. In the statement, it said Dr. Bawumia�s calculations violated all known inflation fundamentals. �Inflation is calculated as a monthly change, point-to-point, and annual average- nowhere in the world is inflation calculated the way Dr. Bawumia calculated it,� said the statement. Critics have questioned the reason why Finance Minister, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, would ask his media liaison to endorse such a serious government response. Meanwhile, John Jinapor, aide to Vice President John Mahama, said he was not interested in the personality attacks on Bawumia as had been done by some of his colleagues. On Peace FM Friday, he said he would rather debate the substantive issues raised by the NPP running mate. On Wednesday, Dr. Bawumia made a critical examination of the health of the Ghanaian economy. His analysis is based on the macro-economic indicators which the Mills government has often touted as its unprecedented achievement. According to Dr. Bawumia, contrary to what had come to be accepted as facts, the Ghanaian economy might have been whitewashed by the Mills government with a heavy dose of propaganda. He was particularly critical about the free fall of the Ghanaian cedi against major currencies. According to him, with the all-time high prices of Ghana�s key export commodities (cocoa, gold and crude oil), the cedi should not be falling at the rate it was currently. The cedi has fallen over 50 percent since the NDC assumed power in 2009. In his view, the windfalls from boosted commodity prices and the huge borrowing of the Mills government should have reflected on the living conditions of the people. �Single digit inflation has not reflected in reduction in the cost of living and in this regard has been rendered practically meaningless. Ghanaians are in fact experiencing triple digit inflation in their pain and suffering,� he said. Dr. Bawumia attributed some aspects of the economic plight of Ghanaians to the alleged corruption in the Mills government. �The overpricing of supplies contracts in areas such as health, education, infrastructure, etc. as well as judgment debt paid for work not done is a major area of concern. Government is not getting value for money and is paying monies for no work done.� �In the case of two such payments of such judgment debts, the total amount could easily have constructed 750 six-classroom blocks even at the currently inflated prices or 1500 at more realistic prices,� Dr. Bawumia estimated. �You cannot manage an economy by propaganda,� he said, criticizing the zealous trumpeting of the �unprecedented� achievements of the Mills administration by government officials.