Ghana’s economy heading straight to highly intensive care unit if care is not taken – Ato Forson

Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has indicated that Ghana’s economy will soon be thrown into a Highly Intensive Care Unit (HICU) if care is not taken.

According to him, the economy under the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is already on an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and requires immediate attention.

The Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Member of Parliament made this claim while delivering a statement on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday prior to the start of the debate on the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy proposal of the government.

In what he called a diagnosis of the economic state of the country, Dr. Ato Forson told Parliament that “the Economy of our beloved country is suffering from stagflation with acute debt overhang syndrome - “SADOSES”.

Bemoaning government’s handling of Ghana’s economy, the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament stressed that it is time consideration for help from the IMF is taken seriously.

He insists that if care is not taken, things could become dire for Ghana than it is at the moment.

“Mr. Speaker, we need to make difficult choices in treating this Economic malaise. A choice to either treat the illness ourselves with local medication (homegrown policies) or seek the advice of an external medical expert (visit the hospital, IMF). However, the most critical issue is the right medication and the right dosage.

“Our government has decided that we treat the malaise ourselves, with local medication (homegrown policies). What is crucial is the right medication and the right dosage; and if care is not taken, Ghana will be going straight into the Highly Intensive Care Unit (HICU),” Dr. Ato Forson told Parliament today.

Despite the many interventions, the government is looking to introduce in the 2022 Budget, the MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam says they are not the answers to bring the economy back on track.

He makes the claim that the policies and the estimations in the 2022 budget are not credible and realistic in dealing with the acute debt overhang of the country.

“I would also urge Mr. Minister [Ken Ofori-Atta], to ignore the politics and save Ghana by seeking external help through the G20s Common Framework beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) in dealing with our debt overhang,” Dr. Ato Forson said.