Leo-Nelson Adzidogah Writes: Views On The Causes Of The Current Economic Hardship In Ghana
The economic hardships facing Ghana has been with us since the colonial days. Each period with its intensity of hardship.
Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu Greater 
The economic hardships facing Ghana has been with us since the colonial days. Each period with its intensity of hardship.
During the colonial days we had tax revolt whose underlying cause was too much hardships as a result of high taxation.
During the period of former Head of state, Jerry Rawlings Ghana was a golden son of IMF and we signed up to PAMSCAD with its conditionalities.
During the reign of Ex-President John Kufour, Ghana had to sign up to HIPC initiative for the survival of the country. Ex-President John Mahama had to head to IMF after Senchi Forum for bailout for survival.
It is now another time under President Nana Akufo Addo to access IMF bailout to ensure the survival of the nation after putting the economy in shape to stand on its feet without seeking any form of support or financial bailout. Ghana has been in strait economic circumstances since time in memorial.
It is not for anything that our political parties campaign on turning the economy round to ensure prosperity when they win power.
The NPP government ran the country from 2017 to early 2020 without seeking IMF support. The economy became robust with a positive outlook. Businesses were booming and the investor confidence was at its peak. Ghana became the toast of the world.
As Ghanaians, we need to come together to provide a shock absorber for the running of our economy by formulating a common national economic programme for all governments to follow.
Despite our ideological idiosyncrasies, a common economic framework is imperative to guide our policy formulation.
Looking critically and objectively at the current economic conditions, one cannot but come to a definite conclusion that the COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war are the immediate and direct causes.
Expenditures became uncontrollable because of crisis management of the situation. A lot of resources went into combating the pandemic.
The Russian-Ukrainian crisis impose shortages of critical essential imports needed here for our economic and commercial activities. This has brought in its wake lack of foreign exchanges and high inflation thereby distorting the economic fundamentals.
This situation has utterly thrown the economic arrangements meant for rapid growth into disarray.
It is important to accept the fact that the economy was well programmed to deliver growth but only to be annihilated by the two world crisis.
It is important to stress that while the country is sourcing for the IMF support, the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance and the Economic Management Team must be providing interim solutions for purposes of our survival as a nation.
