Dr Gideon Boako, the spokesperson to the Vice President, was on top of his argument as he outlines measures the government is putting in place to stabilize the Cedi against the dollar.
The young economist was pitched against opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Bolga Central, Isaac Adongo on the topic: “Cedi Depreciation Politics.”
Buttressing his points with facts and figures, Dr. Gideon Boako stressed the Cedi and the economy for that matter are being managed more effectively and efficiently under the Akufo-Addo government than what Ghanaians experience under NDC.
He also gave detailed information on the rates of depreciation of the cedi against the dollar since President Kufuor’s era, arguing that John Mahama performed abysmally in that respect.
“Because of the strong fundamentals that we have built which are serving as shock absorbers, when the shock comes; either it is spillover from global economy or indigenous shock, we have built stronger fundamentals, that will anchor the currency and therefore the magnitude of depreciation,” Dr Boako said on Citi TV’s Point of View show.
He argued that very soon Ghanaians will experience the benefits following the measures being put in place to control the fall of the local currency.
On his part, the Bolga Central lawmaker Adongo said he doubts the measures the government is promising will work.
“If the economy is doing so well and you have a bigger base, let’s look at your revenue that you (NPP) generated from that base in the first quarter of the year. When you inherited the economy in 2017 that you said it was worse, the worse economy delivered tax revenue, domestic revenue in the first quarter of 1.6 billion in January, 2.9 billion in February and 4.4 billion in March,” he said.
He was coy about a statement his colleague Ato Forson had issued earlier on vice president Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s response to Mr. Mahama’s comments to the effect that the cedi has been depreciating at a rate faster than anticipated under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
In what seems like a battle between two economic wizards, viewers took to social media to assess the two panelists with the majority rating the delivery of Dr. Boako high.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
