President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was insincere with his delivery of the state of the nation address on Thursday, 21 February 2019, Mr Cassiel Ato Forson, an opposition Member of Parliament for Ejumako Enyan Essiam, has said.
According to him, the president failed to touch on the declining state of the local currency, the Cedi, against the major trading currencies, especially the dollar.
Mr Forson said the performance of the cedi has been a topical issue for both local and foreign-owned businesses in Ghana, and, therefore, the president should have addressed it.
Mr Forson, who is a former Deputy Minister of Finance, told Accra100.5FM’s parliamentary correspondent in an interview that although the president said Ghana’s GDP growth is among the highest in the world, that growth is spurred by the oil sector, which, in the lawmaker’s view does not create jobs, and, therefore, cannot be used as an indicator of economic growth.
He described the growth in the oil sector as a “jobless growth”.
“The ordinary businessman is concerned that the cedi is depreciating above equilibrium, yet the president failed to mention anything as far as the structure of the economy is concerned, and the measures they are putting in place in addressing the cedi.
“I think he missed the opportunity to communicate to the market. I expect His Excellency the president to communicate to the market. He missed the opportunity woefully.
“He mentioned the GDP growth and all of that but unfortunately I sense insincerity from the fact that he failed to segregate oil growth and non-oil growth. The economy is actually contracted as far as the oil sector is concerned. The oil sector does not create the jobs, and, so, that growth is jobless growth,” he said.
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