The government says the hard times are a blip before the next boom. Its opponents accuse it of wrecking the economy
Jobs, prices, taxes and electricity are dominating political arguments in the lead up to presidential and parliamentary elections on 7 November. So, when the government said on 1 June that it was postponing announcements about next year's budget until after the polls, the opposition smelt a rat and the cedi fell 2% against the US dollar.
At the heart of the fight are claims by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the governing National Democratic Congress is trying to rig the economy as well as the vote. Although disputes over the credibility – and access to – the electoral register rumble on, the main battleground between the parties is now the state of the economy after eight years of NDC rule. Some NPP activists suspect that the government wants to delay the budget so it can boost spending massively to win over voters. After the elections, the NPP argues, the victors will be faced with a financial meltdown, with the economy mired in unsustainable debt and the state owing billions on contracts made with NDC crony capitalists and their foreign associates.
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