Tweneboah Fokuo, Member of Parliament (MP) for Manso Nkwanta, has stated that the recent 10% wage increase should not be attributed to the notion of a mismanaged economy by the erstwhile government.

Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday February 22, he emphasised that the economy handed over by the previous administration was not in tatters, but rather showed signs of resilience and growth. "For me, the 10% should be linked to the fact that an economy was mismanaged and whatever and was handed over in tatters or whatever… If the 10% was agreed through negotiations with the leaders and all that, that is fine… But the economy that was handed over was not in tatters," Fokuo remarked.

Fokuo highlighted the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and its subsequent recovery. "You have an economy that suffered significantly during COVID, rebounded, and still managed to hand over real GDP growth of 4% which is really decent," he said.

He pointed out that the balance of payments remained strong at the end of the year, with a positive balance of $3.1 billion. "Handing over a balance of payment very strong, balance of payment of $3.1 billion, very strong end of the year," Fokuo noted.