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President Mahama mum on the economy

The president shied away from diagnosing the state of the economy. He did not talk about the country’s debt stock, inflation rate, business confidence or the weak currency.

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Opinion: On Thursday, President John Mahama delivered his customary State of the Nation address touching on wide range of issues. However, the president’s address was mum on the state of the economy.

The president shied away from diagnosing the state of the economy. He did not talk about the country’s debt stock, inflation ratebusiness confidence or the weak currency.

Last year, Ghana’s debt stock increased by $5 billion between May and June 2015. Data from the Bank of Ghana puts the nation’s debt stock at $94.5 billion, representing 70.9 percent of GDP.

In the last three years of Mahama’s reign, inflation has risen from 9.50 in 2012 to 19 percent in 2016, data from the Ghana Statistical Service shows.

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The report, which sampled the views of top Chief Executives found 47% of them will not employ, 17% said they will cut jobs due to present economic conditions while 34% said they will employ.

The cedi's strength has been a major headache for businesses, and likely for Mahama too. It is one of the reasons the government went in for a bailout from the IMF.

The cedi reached an all-time low of 4.49 to the dollar June, making it one of the worse performing currencies in the world. However, the cedi begun to show signs of recovery after signing onto the bailout programme.

In 2014 alone, Ghana lost over two billion dollars due to the national power crisis, according to a report from the University of Ghana.

So, with all this economic downturn supervised by Mahama, it is understandable why he chose to be mum on the economy.

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He couldn't have said anything and arguably, that is an admission that the economy is in crisis.

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