Adnan Adams Mohammed
The Ghanaian public including finance experts has acclaimed that, not much should be expected from the newly appointed Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam.
They explained that, the Ghanaian economy, which is currently under International Monetary Fund (IMF) has ‘no room’ for any miracle to turn the economy around. Most experts believe his appointment came a little too late.
In his first reshuffle of ministers in the past seven years of governance, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo replaced Ken Ofori-Atta with Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam as Finance Minister. There were other eight ministers and more than 10 deputies ministers also reshuffled. A Former Finance Minister is one of the skeptics who do not foresee any miracle coming in the economic management.
“The change comes at a critical time when the country is under an IMF programme, it might be too late for Dr. Adam to make a substantial impact on the economic policy of the president and government”, Seth Terkper posited in an interview last week while reacting to the reshuffle.
Mr. Terkper pointed out that the budget and economic policy are ultimately under the President’s authority, and with the limited timeframe until the next general elections. He expressed concerns that Dr. Adam may face challenges in implementing significant policy changes.
“We are a country where we could not do a turnaround of the economy, and we were preemptive, with everybody blaming it on COVID-19 and the Ukraine war, where some $6 billion flowed into the economy without the ability to turn it around.”
“This administration is not the only one that has suffered global or domestic setbacks, from droughts or floods to the global financial crisis, and so I think the situation is dire, and so we have to ask ourselves if nine months is enough time to do a turnaround.”
However, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, in an interview after his reassignment, has pledged to prioritize revenue mobilization efforts to bolster the nation’s finances and achieve its expenditure goals.
He has also assured the IMF of the government’s commitment to the ongoing program, promising not to stray from the government’s policies and programs as outlined in the 2024 budget.
Dr Amin Adam highlighted the pro-poor initiatives outlined in the recent budget, expressing his commitment to maintaining and advancing those initiatives.
He stated, “I do not intend to depart from those pro-poor initiatives, and I will ensure that business follows as usual as it should.
“We will make sure that we move faster to implement the tax reliefs that were made in the budget, and I am going to make sure the poor are insulated.”
