General News of Wednesday, 3 April 2019

Source: starrfm.com.gh

Bring your data if you disagree – Bawumia

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia play videoVice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia

Vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has challenged political opponents of the government to provide data to prove the economy is on a nosedive.

Speaking at a maiden Town Hall Meeting of the Economic Management Team in Accra Wednesday, Dr. Bawumia said the economy is on a sound footing with credible data available to support that claim.

“These are based on credible data and let anyone who disagrees bring his data,” Bawumia served notice in his presentation dubbed: “Our progress, Our status, Our future.”

According to him, statistics available indicate the economy is performing better than previous governments.

“Inflation has dropped from a high of 15.4% at the beginning of last year to 9% this year,” Bawumia noted adding, “Lending rates are also falling from 32% to 22$.”

“We’re restoring credit growth in the banking sector and the clean up is showing positive results,” Bawumia said.

Touching on the sudden appreciation of the local currency, Dr. Bawumia said: “The market corrected itself. Investor sentiments acknowledged that the fundamentals are much stronger than expected.”

He denied claims that the Bank of Ghana used about $800 million to shore up the economy to save the Cedi, adding: “That would not make sense.”

The Town Hall Meeting is being attended by civil society groups, economic think tanks, trade unions and stakeholders in the financial sector.