Anthony Akoto Osei, a member of the Ghanaian Parliament and former finance minister, has cautioned the government of the center-left John Atta Mills administration not to underestimate the ramifications of Ghana's recent drop in the sovereign credit rating on the economy. Mr. Osei, who is a member of the center-right New Patriotic Party, warned that the downgrading could return Ghana to dark fiscal days.
Sharing his thoughts on the recent survey released by Standard & Poor's - which saw Ghana dropping from B+ to B in credit rating - Mr. Akoto said the government ought to treat the matter with the needed seriousness, rather than resort to downplaying its effects.
MrAkoto said Ghana struggled hard under the erstwhile New Patriotic Party administration to attain the B+ status, and that "we should have appreciated in score instead of depreciating." He said a number of factors had culminated in the lowering of Ghana's grade, including the government's failure to clearly spell its policy on the country's oil and the decision to make the Ministry of Energy regulators of the nation's oil. The former senior researcher at the Centre for Policy Analysis noted that the decision to offer the regulatory duty to the Energy Ministry amounted to putting the oil in the hands of politicians, a situation, which he argues might not ensure proper and independent accountability.
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Anthony Akoto Osei: "Ghana's Center-Left Government Is Butchering The Country's Credit Rating"
