Dr. Bawumia’s speech did not address current economic challenges – Economist
Economist, Dr. Patrick Asuming has stated that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s presentation on the state of the economy on Thursday, did not fully address the current economic challenges Ghanaians are facing.
According to him, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia presentation was uninspiring because it did not offer hope to the ordinary Ghanaian.
The speech was necessitated by concerns over what many described as the silence of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in times of economic hardships.
This was at a time when prices of goods and services were recording daily increments, fuel prices hitting an all-time high, transportation costs up to the roof and a depreciating cedi.
The Vice President in his address sought to answer questions ranging from what has happened to the economic fundamentals, to how the government is solving the current economic challenges.
But Economist, Dr. Patrick Asuming is of the opinion that Dr. Bawumia’s presentation did not fully address the current economic challenges Ghanaians are facing.
He told Citi Business News the Vice President should have used the platform to propose new solutions to help mitigate the plight of Ghanaians.
“In terms of policy initiatives to address those challenges, I don’t think we heard anything new. He explained and admitted that the economy is going through difficult times and spoke about all the issues that we know. He spent too much time trying to compare what is happening now versus what was happening in the previous regime. Whiles those provide very good context, I don’t think that is what the ordinary Ghanaian wants to hear.”
Ghanaians were looking forward to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s take on the electronic transfer levy following its controversial passage in Parliament and expected implementation in May 2022, but their expectations were not met as the Vice President failed to make any clear comment in that regard.
The only time he came close to mentioning the tax policy was when he was talking about taxes and levies abolished and reduced by the Akufo-Addo government within the last five years.
In a reaction to this development, Dr. Patrick Asuming expressed shock at the Vice President’s failure to address the e-levy during his much-anticipated economic lecture.
“I certainly expected the Vice President to have commented on the e-levy. Many people were curious to know exactly what his position was given that he had spoken on that subject in the past before the e-levy as a bill came to Parliament. The e-levy has been the biggest thing that the government has been telling us the whole of this year and making it seem like when we pass the levy, a lot of our challenges would be solved. It was quite surprising that the Vice President didn’t say much about it. I don’t know whether we should take that to mean that he’s not in tune with that policy.”
Source: Ghana Business
