Desist from political rhetoric, focus on facts – politicians cautioned
Dr Eric
Osei-Assibey, an Associate Professor of Economics has cautioned politicians to
focus on the facts for their economic choices and desist from political
rhetoric following varied political verdicts on the state of the economy.
He explained that it should be obvious to even
the disinterested observer that the facts of the economy pointed to a state of
macroeconomic recovery, a situation the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had
attested to.
“I as an economist will always look at the
facts, I look at the evidence, and I look at numbers to actually pass judgment
on an economy because politicians will always have their way and their say,” he
noted.
Dr Osei-Assibey’s caution sought to settle the
citizenry who might have been unsettled by the trading of accusations by senior
members of both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic
Congress (NDC).
“Ghanaians should let the facts decide, the
economy grew 8.1per cent in 2017, non-oil growth increased from 4.6 per cent in
2016 to 5.8 per cent in 2018 and Agriculture grew by 6.8 per cent by 2018, the
facts points to recovery of the economy.
“There is no doubt that the economy is
recovering from a very difficult situation, we had to go to the IMF because of
some difficulties we experienced over the last four to five years, there seems
to be some turnaround on macroeconomic front.
“But more than a fixation on the macroeconomic
indicators, policymakers must pay attention to microeconomic indicators since
those affect the lives of the ordinary people directly.
“You must also look at the microeconomics and
see the extent to which there is development because at the end of the day that
is what matters to the ordinary Ghanaian.
“I am excited about the growth in the
agriculture sector since it affects ordinary people but the full effect of such
growth can be felt if it is sustained over a long period of time,” Dr
Osei-Assibey noted.
Following a distressed economy, Ghana entered into an IMF Programme in 2014, after five years, it exited last Tuesday and Vice President
But that has been disputed by
-myjoyonline.com
