Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has admitted that it was impossible for the government to have continued the partial lockdown imposed on Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi beyond the three weeks announced by President Akufo -Addo.
According to him, the Ghanaian economy, which is largely informal, could not sustain that decision beyond the three-weeks.
President Akufo-Addo on March 27th announced a partial lockdown as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana but lifted it after 3-weeks.
Speaking at an event at the Jubilee House, the Finance Minister said it was necessary to lift the lockdown.
“When you look at what happened during the lockdown. It was quite clear after a point that given the 90% of our population is informal and they go out each day to earn wages, it became increasingly impossible to continue with such a policy,” he said.
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant adverse impact on the global economy.
In Ghana, though the government is implementing various fiscal and monetary measures to mitigate the adverse effect and provide relief for businesses and households, the outbreak has brought three years of economic growth of 6% or more to a sudden halt, with the Ministry of Finance anticipating that growth could slow to 1.5%, the least in 37 years.
Already, President Akufo-Addo has stated that the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic could affect Ghana’s growth rate from 7 percent on average to 2.5 percent if the situation persists until the end of 2020.
The Finance Minister, also stated that Ghana will record a significant drop in revenue target for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic because the country is recording a huge decline in revenue from the port, petroleum revenue receipts as well as tax revenue.
He, however, indicated that the cumulative effect of the novel coronavirus pandemic will cost Ghana GHS9.505 billion, Citinewsroom.com reports.
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Citifm
