Mahama govt has started well, boosted public confidence – Asuming

Economist Professor Patrick Asuming has described the first year of the Mahama administration as a strong start, saying the government assumed office with a clear sense of direction and moved quickly to set its agenda in motion.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue on Saturday, January 10, Prof Asuming said it became evident in the early weeks of the administration that there was a defined plan guiding government actions. He noted that even those who disagreed with some of the policies could see that the President acted swiftly to implement what he set out to do.

He said one of the administration’s biggest achievements so far has been its ability to restore public confidence after years of economic difficulty. From 2022 through to the end of 2024, he explained, the economy appeared largely stagnant, leaving many Ghanaians frustrated and uncertain about the future.

Prof Asuming pointed to the Bank of Ghana’s Consumer and Business Sentiment Surveys, which showed a noticeable improvement in public outlook once it became clear that there would be a change in government. He said optimism began to return even before the new administration officially took office.

According to him, the government capitalised on the improved mood by honouring some of its campaign pledges in its first budget, a move he said helped build trust and carry many Ghanaians along in the early stages of the administration.

“I think you have to say the first year of the administration has gone well. You get the sense right from early on, right from the opening weeks of the administration, that there was a clear plan on what the strategy is and what they want to do. Whether you agree with all of it or not, you knew that there was a clear idea of what we want to do and the president wasted no time in doing it. One of the things that the administration has succeeded in doing is change the mood of the country. Because if you start from 2022, the kind of crisis that we’ve been through, and getting towards the end of 2024, you got the sense that the economy was sitting on autopilot, not much was happening. But the moment the election happened, if you track for instance the BoG’s Consumer and Business Sentiment Survey, the moment it was obvious that there was going to be a change, you began to see that moods changed and sentiments shifted.

“The administration also tapped into that and made sure that, for instance, the first budget that was read, the administration decided to honour some of the pledges it had made and through that carried many people along.”