Over 6% GDP growth is not mismanagement-Minority

The Minority in Parliament has strongly contested President John Mahama’s assertion that the economy in 2024 was mismanaged, arguing that the facts paint a different picture.
The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) Caucus insists that an economy that recorded a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate exceeding six percent cannot be fairly described as deteriorating.
According to Dr. Stephen Amoah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nhyiaeso, the President’s characterization of the economy in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of his second term was misleading.
Delivering the minority’s own SONA, Dr. Amoah emphasized that the previous administration left significant financial buffers and unspent funds, providing a strong foundation for the current government.

Unspent funds and revenue buffers
Dr. Amoah revealed that on January 3, 2024, the previous government had auctioned over GH₵700 million in funds, which remained unspent.
Additionally, GH₵3 billion in end-of-year revenue was available as a buffer to support economic stability.

These funds, he argued, contradict claims that the country’s finances were in crisis.
Furthermore, the Minority pointed out that January’s Domestic Tax Revenue amounted to GH₵8.7 billion, a figure driven largely by late tax payments from the previous year.
He said the new government also borrowed GH₵38 billion through Treasury Bills in January 2025 alone

Domestic bondholders and government borrowing
The Minority also challenged the government’s assertion that fulfilling domestic bondholders’ obligations had significantly drained public funds.
Dr. Amoah explained that recent coupon payments required no more than GH₵6 billion in cash payments.
He noted that under the previous NPP government, three prior payments to bondholders, made between August 2023 and December 2024, totaled GH₵17.25 billion in Payment-In-Cash (PIC) and GH₵9.77 billion in Payment-In-Kind (PIK).
Individual bondholders who did not tender their bonds were also paid GH₵515.17 million in coupons between 2023 and 2024, as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and the Coalition of Individual Bondholders.
The Minority contends that these payments were handled responsibly without creating a fiscal crisis.

Wage adjustments and inflationary concerns
Dr Amoah pointed out that in 2024, the inflation rate stood at 23.8%, yet the government implemented a 23% increase in the base pay for public sector workers from January to June and additional 2% increase was granted from July to December, bringing the total wage adjustment to 25% for the year.
The Minority arguesd that such wage increases reflect a commitment to prioritizing workers’ welfare despite economic pressures.
Dr. Amoah questioned why President Mahama, under similar inflationary conditions, had reduced wage increases to just 10%. “How can an economy described as ‘criminally mismanaged’ deliver a 25% wage adjustment for workers while maintaining macroeconomic stability?” he asked.
He further criticized the President’s remarks as politically motivated rather than grounded in economic reality.
“We are at a loss as to how an economy described by President Mahama as ‘criminally mismanaged’ could deliver a 25% wage adjustment, yet a reset economy cannot accommodate more than 10% given the same level of inflation,” he argued.

Security concerns and economic uncertainty
Beyond economic indicators, the Minority painted a bleak picture of the country’s overall stability, citing heightened insecurity, mass job terminations, and widespread human rights violations under the new administration.
Dr. Amoah argued that the uncertainty surrounding the economic management of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government is causing significant distress among citizens and businesses alike.

Returns of dumsor
One of the most pressing concerns raised by the Minority is the resurgence of the power crisis, commonly referred to as ‘dumsor,’ just two months into President Mahama’s new administration.
Dr. Amoah accused the government of plunging the country back into an energy crisis, which is particularly hurting small businesses such as dressmakers, ice water sellers, and hair salons.
While the government has attributed the outages to maintenance work on the West African Gas Pipeline, the Minority questioned why similar maintenance under the previous administration did not result in prolonged blackouts.
“Under the NPP government, the Gas Pipeline was going through similar maintenance. If so, why were the lights on, but cannot be on today because of the maintenance of the Pipeline?” Dr. Amoah queried.
The outages are also severely impacting the health sector, with hospitals and clinics struggling to maintain operations due to unreliable electricity supply.
The Minority insists that immediate solutions must be found to prevent further harm to businesses and essential services.

A call for accountability
The Minority maintains that President Mahama’s administration must be transparent about its economic decisions and take responsibility for emerging challenges.
They argue that the government inherited a stable economic framework, and its struggles to manage inflation, public debt, and energy supply within just two months raise concerns about its long-term capability.