A lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Professor Patrick Asuming is urging the new Mahama administration to prioritize the rising cost of food on the market in order to bring relief to the public.
In an interview on GHOne TV, the economist observed that Ghanaians could not afford to wait for the government to introduce macroeconomic policies to improve the situation.
He said it was important that issues of high cost of food and food production be taken seriously in the early days of government.
“The people of Ghana are very concerned about rising food prices and I think that it is very important that the government gets straight to work in terms of addressing the challenges with food production.
“The part about macroeconomic stability is that there is an expectation that when the macroeconomic environment is stable, it will promote investment and production and employment.
“Now that takes a long time from where we are so we can’t wait when people are hungry,” he noted.
He said the government’s measures aimed at stabilizing the macroeconomic must be introduced simultaneously with food production policies.
According to recent data from the Ghana Statistical Service, inflation rose to 23.8% in December 2024 up from 23% the previous month, missing government’s target.
It is the fourth consecutive month during which inflation has been on a marginal rise.
Professor Asuming in the assessment of the economy, added that the government had to improve confidence of the business community by ensuring transparency in the tax system and revisiting regressive taxes as it had promised.
