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The General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Frimpong Koduah, says the economic situation the country is faced with would have been worse under a National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
The country has seen a downturn since 2022 with the government embarking on a debt restructuring exercise, and it’s also seeking a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking on Face to Face on Citi TV with Umaru Sanda Amadu, Mr. Koduah stated that Ghanaians still have confidence in the government despite the economic challenges expressing hope that they will break the eight in the 2024 polls.
The NPP’s chief scribe indicated that even without the impact of COVID-19 coupled with the Russian-Ukraine war, the NDC wouldn’t have been able to manage the economy.
“Ghanaians still have confidence in this government despite the economic challenges, because they know that between the NDC and the NPP, NPP are better managers of the economy than the NDC. Ghanaians also appreciate the fact that had it not been NPP in power, and if it were the NDC, the situation would have been worse off than what we are experiencing now. I’m telling you if NDC were in government, the situation would have been worse off”.
He added, “Even without any COVID-19 or Russian-Ukraine war, they [NDC] wouldn’t have been able to manage the economy well. We saw what happened under H. E. President John Mahama’s tenure– four years of ‘Dumsor, the scrapping of the teacher/nursing trainee allowances, among others”.
Mr. Koduah called on Ghanaians to exercise restraint assuring that the country will come out of the challenges soon.
He said Ghana had been touted as the fastest-growing economy before COVID-19 struck.
“Ghana was touted as the fast-growing economy in the world until COVID-19. At the end of the day, we will come out of the challenges, unlike the NDC which told Ghanaians that children should stay home and not be allowed to go to school during COVID-19. When we discovered oil, they termed it as coconut oil ‘adwengu’. The same NDC told Ghanaians that free SHS is not possible. Can you tell us that they are better managers of the economy than NPP?” the NPP chief scribe stated.
Parliament on Friday, March 31, passed the Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority Bill 2022 and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.
The financial bills seek to raise about 4 billion Ghana Cedis annually as part of domestic revenue mobilisation.
The bills are also crucial to aid the government’s quest to facilitate the Board Approval for the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme staff-level agreement.
Many industry players have kicked against the passage of the new taxes arguing that it will kill businesses.
