Deputy Director-General in charge of Finance and Administration at the National Service Authority (NSA), Donkor Fuseini, has credited the current NDC government with pulling over 360,000 Ghanaians out of poverty, attributing the improvement to effective debt servicing and economic policies.
He also blamed the previous NPP administration for decisions that worsened the poverty situation.
Speaking on GHToday on Thursday, January 22, 2026, with Joshua Kodjo Mensah and Serwaa Amihere, Mr. Fuseini said certain economic measures under the NPP drove millions of Ghanaians below the poverty line in a single year.
“Some of NPP’s bad decisions, within one year, drove over eight hundred thousand Ghanaians below the poverty line,” he stated.
He highlighted the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as a key factor, explaining that pensioners who depended on bond investments for survival were particularly affected.
“There were some pensioners who depended on those things for survival, so the moment you take that decision, that is why most of them were protesting because that was their means of survival,” Mr. Fuseini explained.
The deputy director-general also pointed to the banking sector clean-up as compounding economic hardship, collectively pushing an estimated 1.2 million Ghanaians below the poverty line.
Referencing statistics from the final quarter of 2024, he said improvements were only visible after the current government resumed regular debt servicing in 2025.
“If you look at the statistics very well, you’ll realise that in quarter four of 2024, when they were leaving, it was 24.9,” he noted.
Mr. Fuseini explained that debt repayments to bondholders intensified from early 2025, with payments made between February and September, leading to tangible improvements.
“The moment the debt servicing started and Ato started paying most of these people their monies, he pushed at least three percent of them out of the poverty line,” he added.
READ: IEA survey shows majority of Ghanaians positive about country’s direction
He estimated that about 360,000 people moved out of poverty between January and September 2025, attributing the change to the effective policy direction under the NDC government.
“So gradually, the good policies of this government are pushing people out of poverty and we need to sustain it,” he concluded.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Barbara Yeboah
