Finance and economics professor at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Godfred Bokpin, has stated that despite the growth in Ghana's economy over the years, the country is in a much poorer state than before.
Speaking on JoyFM Top Story on Thursday, February 27, Prof Bokpin stated that while the Akufo-Addo government expanded Ghana's GDP by $20 billion, the data suggests that the country's overall financial health has worsened. "What is becoming clearer is that even though over $20 billion has been added to our economy, the previous government's data exists to confirm that they left this country in a much poorer state," he stated.
Read also: Assessing economy's performance based on debts is intellectual dishonesty - Amin tells Mahama He pointed to Ghana's rising debt burden, explaining that by December 2022, inflation had soared to 54.1 per cent, and the debt-to-GDP ratio in nominal terms had exceeded 104 per cent. "If you look at the debt numbers, at the time, in 2017 when the NPP was describing the economy as so bad, they inherited inflation of 15.4%. "If you look at debt service to revenue ratio, even public debt to GDP ratio without debt restructuring, the NPP have debt restructuring to be thankful for, for what they are leaving behind.
Otherwise, it could have been serious." Read also: 'Ghana's debt soars to ¢721bn, ECG owes ¢68bn, COCOBOD ¢32.5bn', says Mahama Prof Bokpin further noted that poverty levels have worsened, with nearly 30 per cent of Ghanaians in extreme poverty as of January 2025. "If you look at the poverty numbers, we are talking about the fact that approximately 30% of Ghanaians are in extreme poverty at the time the NPP was leaving office in January 2025." Prof Bokpin stressed that despite record revenues and resources available to the previous government, expectations were not met, leading to widespread disappointment among Ghanaians. "….So the fact of the matter is that - much of the disappointment with the NPP had to do with the fact that the expectation was so high. "In as much as the former Minister of Finance was saying that he added $20 billion to our economy, let's also put on record that no government has had the kind of revenue and resources that they (NPP) had within the eight-year period.
