Don't Shoot the Messenger: Dr Kwesi Botchwey on Ghana's Economy

Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, Ghanas longest serving Minister for Finance and Economic Planning has called on Ghanas politicians to be honest about the facts of the countrys economy, and stop the blame game.

The man who managed Ghanas economy for 13 years from 1982 to 1995 says the matters which the World Bank Country Director, Ishac Diwan had put out in the economic outlook on Ghana recently is not a secret, the issues have been known, it has been in the public domain for a long time, he said.

Dr. Kwesi Botchwey made the remarks on TV3s Current Affairs show, Agenda, Thursday January 15, 2009 and was monitored by www.ghanabusinessnews.com. He argues that it is not entirely correct that these issues have not been in the public domain. All the facts that the World Bank is putting out now have been known.

Dr. Botchwey was dismayed that the debate about the economy has been politicized. Unfortunately, these debates have been politicized, and it must be depoliticized, he urged.
Yes, there has been growth, I think that the NPP administration must be congratulated for stabilizing the macro-economic environment, it is true that interest rates came down, it is true that inflation came down, but it is also true that over the past year, especially, there have been deterioration and that must be admitted, Dr. Botchwey stated.

According to Dr. Botchwey, the deficit has grown, the national currency has depreciated, it is true that there was pressure on our external accounts, and there is pressure on imports and our international reserves have gone down. He said any professional who looks at the economic performance record of the past year would have to admit that there has been deterioration. As a country Ghana spends much more than it earns in revenue. And from the facts and figures available, the countrys deficit has surged in the last year and it is poised to go up in 2009.

Dr. Botchwey advised that as a nation we need to discuss this debate dispassionately and leave the World Bank and IMF out. There is not much sense in shooting the messenger.
Lets ask ourselves, is what they are saying true? Forget who is saying it. Because these things have implications for the kind of policy mix we have to adopt for the next four years, he said.

Article by Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
http://ghanabusinessnews.com/2009/01/17/kwesi-botchwey-speaks-on-ghana%E2%80%...

Email: edogbevi@hotmail.com
www.ghanabusinessnews.com

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