Former Minister of Trade and Industry, George Ricketts-Hagan says Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s is wrong to celebrate the country’s low inflation rate presently.
He argues the low inflation rate in this era of COVID-19 only proves that the country’s economy is weak as there is no circulation of money.
“Dr. Bawumia needs a refresher course in economics. He is rusty at least in microeconomics and doesn’t know what is going on in Ghana’s economy. He is applying textbook terms to what is actually on the ground. He has no clue about our economy. He has left his teaching job and work as a governor down for a while and lost his touch. He needs a refresher course,” he stated.
According to him, the Vice President’s microeconomic interpretations does not add up and suspects it may be intentional. However, if it is not intentional, then the Vice President may have become rusty in economics. “It may be that he is playing tricks on Ghanaians about the economy or he doesn’t fully grasp what is going on.”
He described inflation as a thermometer used to measure how hot or cold an economy is.
The Member of Parliament for Cape Coast South explained that Ghana’s inflation is low because of the inactivity in the economy. “Things are not working and jobs are not being created. When jobs are created, then there will be a competition in the market causing wage inflation but that is not happening at the moment.”
To him, the Vice President must be worried as the economy is not growing as he notes, “If you’re not having any inflation pressures, then something is wrong with the economy. That is why I am saying the Vice President and his party’s economic gurus are being mischievous or do not know what is going on in the economy, and their understanding of the economy is rusty.”
Speaking in an interview with Sefah-Danquah on Happy98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political talk show, he compared Ghana’s economy to the other European countries. “Regardless of suffering COVID-19, the US and some parts of Europe have seen a rise in inflation and that is good. It shows their economy is growing now.”
The politician argues that because there is no liquidity in Ghana’s economy, “our inflation is low. We need to pump money into our economy to make it warm.”
He advised the government of the day and the central bank to loosen its monetary policy. “The Bank of Ghana needs to work to reduce inflation properly. Having a monetary policy that is tight is good but shouldn’t be too tight.”