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Many people have credited Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with the title “Economic Wizard” and “Economic Magician” but the Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt has begged to differ.

According to him, he says he is "not one" of those people “who see Vice President Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as a magician capable of performing wonders with the national economy; I don’t see him that way”.

Speaking on Radio Gold’s 'Alhaji and Alhaji' Morning Show, Kwesi Pratt said Dr. Bawumia is not a new phenomenon who just emerged on the political scene with the panacea to the country's economic challenges.

Alluding to Dr. Bawumia's earlier role as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Pratt was of the opinion that if the current Vice-President and head of the Economic Management Team (EMT) had any magic wand, he would probably have woven it to resolve our economic challenges during his years at the Central Bank.

“If he had any magic (wand), we should have seen those magic that earlier and so I am not one of those who think that he is a magician and has the solution to all the economic problems which confront us,” he indicated.

The local currency since the beginning of the year has seen over 8.6 percent depreciation, causing currency analysts to question measures put in place to stabilize the cedi.

The cedi, as at December 2018 was trading against the dollar at 4 cedis 86 pesewas. The currency then began to experience a drop by the third week in January.

In Mid December 2018, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) predicted that the local currency will hit 6 cedis 39 pesewas by 2023.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, its forecast was premised on the cedi remaining prone to periods of volatility, given a dependence on commodity prices and a broader decline in investor sentiment towards emerging markets.

In February 2019, President Akufo-Addo expressed concerns over the depreciating rate of the currency assuring that government will do all it can to fix it.