Take Time To Read Our Document; We Provided Solutions To Strengthen Cedi -  Gov't Told

Member of Parliament for Bia East Constituency in the Western Region, Hon. Richard Acheampong says the Minority in Parliament through their press conference on Wednesday 20th March, 2019 has offered solutions to aid the free fall of the Cedi.

According to him, the Akufo-Addo government should take time to read the proposal of the Minority as all his government needs to resolve the economic challenges confronting the country has been blueprinted.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Hon. Acheampong said one of the propositions of the Minority to appreciate the Cedi is for the Akufo-Addo government to focus on the Aveyime Rice Project as he promised.

He explained that the country would have saved $1.3 billion from the importation of rice into the country every year if the Aveyime Rice Project is functioning; thus, this is one of the proposals presented by the Minority.

He added that another proposal of the Minority which they believe can help importers has to do with the special import levy; in that, the government should remove such a levy from the importers so that they can feel free to import more.

“So we have given them solutions to help the Cedi and the economy and it is not as if we just held a press conference without mentioning what they need to do. If they will take time to read the document, they will see the solutions we have proposed,” he stated.

He again charged the government to scrub the luxury vehicle tax so that importers can have financial muscles to do their businesses; reiterating that the luxury vehicle tax is another cause of economic hardship on importers and on Ghanaians in general.

Hon. Richard Acheampong insisted that government can save close to $4 billion from only rice and sugar if it will do the needful by resuscitating the sugar factory and the Aveyime rice project.

The Minister of Information, Hon. Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah reacting to the Minority's press conference on Wednesday says the NDC’s state of the economy and the challenges facing the Cedi is the usual wrong predictions.

“At first, the Minority said there will be famine like it happened in 1983 but now there is bounty harvest of food stuffs and if today they are giving another prediction of the economy, we don’t have any response for them but we will continue to work to ensure that our economy is boosted enough to create jobs for the teaming youth in the country,” he said on Peace FM's Evening News.

But the Bia East lawmaker posited that “maybe they have not taken time to read our write-up, but if they think it is needless to hold the press conference, then it is equally needless to vote; don’t we all know Ghana is a developing country? Why are we looking for a leader to run the country? Then we should allow the military to rule us because we know our problems already”.