By 
Kwaku Kwarteng, Chairman of the Finance Committee, has pointed to decades of imprudent public spending and economic mismanagement as key contributors to the nation’s current economic woes. While recognizing the significant challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russian conflict, Mr. Kwarteng dismisses the idea that these external factors are solely responsible for the crisis.
“I am not with the school of thought that we were not going to experience a financial crisis but for these [Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine War].
“The country was always going to have some financial crisis. It might have been delayed a little bit if Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war had not happened but the fact remains that with the path we were walking, we were definitely going to get here,” he said.
Mr Kwarteng who doubles as MP for Obuasi West made this assertion during an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express on Thursday.
Emphasizing a prevalent pattern of excessive spending and a deficit in fiscal restraint, Mr. Kwarteng further observed that Ghana’s current challenges stem not solely from recent economic decisions but rather from the culmination of decades of poor political and economic governance.
“Overruns and reckless expenditure have become a culture,” he told George Wiafe. A practice, he expressed grave concern.
He warned that without a fundamental shift in mindset and a dedicated effort towards fiscal responsibility, Ghana’s future could be jeopardized, possibly leading to a state of failure. Consequently, he urged for a candid and direct dialogue concerning the detrimental cultural norms contributing to the present crisis and advocated for the development of sustainable solutions to address them.
The Obuasi West legislator observed that due to the pervasiveness of these negative cultural practices, it makes laws and institutions established to clump down on economic mismanagement ineffective.
“We have the laws and we’ve set up institutions that should help us deal with these, but no amount of legislation, no amount of institutional arrangements can stop a people determined to destroy themselves.”
Mr Kwarteng’s remarks come at a critical time as the country grapples with the dual challenges of external shocks and domestic economic vulnerabilities such as skyrocketing inflation rate, high unemployment rate among others.
