Blame mismanagement and corruption not Russia-Ukraine war – Dr. Saad to government

Economist, Dr. Sa-ad Iddrisu, in a social media post is asking the government to blame its mismanagement and corruption for the woes of the economy and not the Russia-Ukraine war. According to Dr. Iddrisu, “The rate at which prices are increasing in the country is alarming. An item sold for 100ghc today can be sold for 250ghc in less than three days’ time. This is beyond what the average citizen can bear as salaries had only seen a meagre 4% increase since July 2021.” “In 2016, a 50kg bag of rice cost GHS150. With your salary as GHS2500, you could have bought 16 bags. By Sept – Oct 2022, with the price being GHS800, you can only buy 3 bags of the same rice. Thus, a price increase of 433%. Again in 2016, a gallon of cooking oil cost GHS90. Today, it’s costing GHS1000, representing a 1011% increase in price,” he said. He added that: “A bag of cement which cost GHS28 in 2016, is now costing GHS80. Another price increase of 185.7%. The list goes on and on with astronomical increases in prices of items, of which the government seems unconcerned about. No government should watch its citizens suffer in hardships whilst it does very little to ease the situation.” Dr. Iddrisu also added, “Many African countries are not badly hit with rising inflation like Ghana due to the Russia-Ukraine war.” To this effect, he said, “Government should not blame all of the country’s woes on the Russia-Ukraine war but on government’s own mismanagement and corruption.” Dr. Sa-ad Iddrisu is a Ghanaian-born economist based in the United States of America. He has over the years been highly vocal on the state of the Ghanaian economy and has made several policy recommendations in the past.