The Member of Parliament for Tano North and Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Gideon Boako, has said Ghana’s economic recovery cannot be considered complete unless improvements in macroeconomic indicators translate into better living conditions for ordinary citizens.
Dr Boako said economic performance should ultimately be judged by the experiences of unemployed graduates, traders, farmers, contractors and households rather than solely by figures such as inflation, fiscal balances and economic growth.
He argued that citizens are more concerned about access to jobs, functioning businesses, good roads and the ability to meet their daily needs than positive statistics presented in government reports.
“Ultimately, citizens do not vote for economic statistics. They vote for better lives,” he said. Dr Boako added that the real verdict on the economy would be determined by “the unemployed graduate searching for work, the trader trying to keep her business alive, the contractor waiting to be paid, the farmer transporting produce over poor roads and every Ghanaian family still waiting for the promise of economic recovery to arrive at their doorstep.”
He said Ghana needed to move beyond headline economic improvements towards broad-based and inclusive growth that creates opportunities and raises living standards.
According to him, sustainable economic stability should provide the foundation for stronger productivity, employment and improved livelihoods rather than become an achievement in itself.
“Until that happens, growth without visible progress will remain an incomplete success,” Dr Boako said, stressing that Ghana could not achieve broad-based, shared and inclusive growth without strong and sustainable economic stability.