The Personal Assistant to GoldBod Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi, Annan Perry, has challenged Tano North MP Dr Gideon Boako over his criticism of Ghana’s declining inflation figures, accusing the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of applying inconsistent standards to economic statistics depending on whether it is in government or opposition.
In a response to Dr Boako’s argument that the current inflation figures do not reflect the economic realities facing ordinary Ghanaians, Mr Perry cited previous budget statements issued under the NPP administration, arguing that the party relied on similar indicators to demonstrate economic progress while in office.
He pointed to the 2018 Budget Statement, presented in November 2017, which highlighted a reduction in inflation from 15.4 per cent in December 2016 to 11.6 per cent in October 2017 as one of the government’s economic achievements.
He also referenced the 2019 Budget Statement, where the NPP government celebrated a decline in headline inflation from 12.2 per cent in September 2017 to 9.8 per cent in September 2018, despite acknowledging an increase in food inflation over the same period.
Mr Perry further cited paragraph 33 of the 2019 Mid-Year Budget Review, which reported that headline inflation had fallen from 11.8 per cent in December 2017 to 9.4 per cent in December 2018.
The same report indicated that food inflation had increased from 8.0 per cent to 8.7 per cent, yet the government attributed the overall improvement to supportive monetary and fiscal policies.
He argued that the NPP’s previous position demonstrates that a decline in headline inflation can represent economic progress even when certain household expenses continue to rise.
According to him, lower inflation does not necessarily mean prices are falling or that economic hardship has disappeared, but rather that the general rate at which prices increase has slowed.
Mr Perry also challenged anyone advancing claims of 37 per cent personal inflation to provide the expenditure basket, weighting system, comparison period and calculations used to arrive at that figure, insisting that references to rent, transport fares and food prices alone do not establish such a rate.
“What methodology makes the official figures credible when the NPP governs, but merely ‘on paper’ when the NDC governs?” he questioned.
He maintained that the NPP must apply the same standards it used while in office when assessing the current government’s economic performance, stressing that the meaning of economic indicators should not change with a change in political power.