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Exactly fifteen days after New Patriotic Party (NPP) running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s public lecture on the theme – “The State of the Ghanaian Economy – a foundation of Concrete or Straw,” which continues to draw fire on the government, government communicators and arm-chair economic experts are still groping for answers for the gloomy picture painted about the economy.

Press Secretary to Dr. Bawumia, Kwabena Boadu, in a statement released yesterday  observed that “Though the government has till date not issued a comprehensive response to the Lecture delivered by Dr. Bawumia a fortnight ago, we are encouraged by the suggestions made by the Head of the Economic Management Team and Vice-President, H.E. Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, over the weekend in Sunyani, that the government is still studying the Lecture and will in due course respond comprehensively to the Lecture”.

To aid the government and especially the Economic Management Team in their desire to respond to the lecture therefore, Kwaben Boadu said “we have compiled at least 170 statements and claims made in the Lecture to which we look forward to a response from government”.

Even with this help, a press conference, themed “Setting the records straight” by the Transport Minister, Fiifi Kwetey yesterday failed to field the critical questions which has dominated public discussions after the lecture.

At the conference, the Minister only said there is nothing phenomenal about the NPP’s economic record because it was shielded from economic difficulties through its decision to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Picking out an example, Fiifi Kwetey said government had a GH¢10.5bn annual wage bill compared to GH¢2.5billion under the 2001 to 2008 NPP administration led by President J.A. Kufuor.

Although response has been much-awaited, the team of government officials forming the Setting the Records Straight’ forum indicated that the press conference was not in response to Dr Bawumia or the NPP.

Deputy Education Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said it was a routine program the party organises in an election year and part of their political programmes.

Fifi Kwetey noted that if the economy was stable under the NPP it was because President Kufuor applied for special assistance from the IMF and the World Bank.

According to Mr. Kwetey, this decision shielded the NPP government from experiencing currency instability because dollars were injected into the economy leading to currency stability.

The government also got some breathing space as it was no longer required to meet some debt servicing obligations, Fifi Kwetey noted. Government has managed an external debt of 57.8 billion cedis by December, 2015, representing 43.3% GDP.

"NPP boast a lot about having recorded a long period of currency stability. The truth however was that the period of that stability was mainly during the period when the NPP was not servicing external debts because of the debt-forgiveness dispensation under HIPC.

"Virtually all developing countries that had the same dispensation enjoyed currency stability as well. So it was nothing exceptional on the part of the NPP in terms of currency stability. It was no special competence", he asserted.