{Full Text} 2025 SONA: Ghana Is Not Broke- Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has denied claims that he has led Ghana into bankruptcy.
According to him, such commentaries are sponsored by propagandists and untrue.
Delivering his last address on the nation as President on Friday, January 3, 2025, he posited that he was handing over a robust Gross International Reserves and Economy after successfully battling the ravages of the covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Mr Speaker, the country is not broke, as some propagandists want us to believe. We are handing over the country with Gross International reserves of almost eight billion United States dollars ($8 billion). This is more than the six-point-two-billion United States dollars ($6.2 billion) of Gross International Reserves my administration inherited in 2017.”
“Economic growth has also returned to the pre-COVID trajectory, with an impressive growth rate, rising from four-point-eight-percent (4.8%) in the first quarter of 2024; seven percent (7%) in the second quarter and seven-point-two percent (7.2%) in the third quarter,” he argued.
The outgoing President also heighted the growth rate projection of six-point-three-percent (6.3%) for this year, calling it a significantly higher rate than the three-point-four percent (3.4%) his administration inherited in 2017.
“The growth of the economy is further reflected in the growth of private sector credit. Private sector credit in nominal terms grew by twenty-eight point eight seven percent (28.87%) in October 2024, compared to the negative seven-point five percent (-7.5%) growth recorded in the same comparative period of 2023.
“In real terms, growth in credit to the private sector improved to five-point five percent (5.5%) compared to a contraction of thirty-one-point six percent (31.6%) recorded in October 2023.”
He also touched on “improved” external balances with the current account balance standing at a surplus of 2.6% of GDP compared to a deficit of 6.6% of GDP in 2016; a trade balance $3.85 billion compared with a deficit of $1.8 billion) in 2016; an inflation rate of 23%; and decreasing food prices.
On the country’s debt, he said, “The stock of public and publicly guaranteed debt increased during the economic difficulties. However, the government is servicing its debts, honouring coupon payments for both domestic bonds and Eurobonds.”
“Moreover, the debt levels are reducing, recording a significant reduction in the debt stock by forty-six point eight billion Ghana cedis (GH₵46.8 billion) to seven hundred sixty-one point zero one billion Ghana cedis (GH₵761.01 billion) in October 2024 from eight hundred seven point seven nine billion Ghana cedis (GH₵807.79 billion) in September 2024. The public debt-to-GDP ratio, therefore, reduced from seventy-nine-point two percent (79.2%) in September 2024 to seventy-four-point six percent (74.6%) in October 2024.”
Read the Full Text Below:
Source: opemsuo.com /Hajara Fuseini
