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Ghanaians have been experiencing a high cost of living partly due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Russia/Ukraine war, the depreciation of the cedi among others.

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has admitted that the hardships "is the reality irrespective of the cause".

“From the man on the streets to the business mogul, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the shelter we seek or have, to the benevolence we extend to friends and family, the health of the economy is the cardinal instrument. To bring this home, essentially the economy is what we feel in our pockets. I acknowledge that times are hard. This is the reality irrespective of the cause . . . Today our economy is witnessing rising prices of fuel, and virtually all commodities like bread, rice, sugar, sachet water, cement, iron rods, and so on . . . Even the price of my favorite 'Kofi Brokeman' and kenkey are seeing price increases. These are the stark realities that confront us today,” he said.

Dr Bawumia who was speaking at a forum held by TESCON, the student's wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Thursday, April 7, however gave a list of measures government has and is implementing to alleviate the economic hardship

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the record shows that the NPP government under the leadership of Nana Akufo Addo is a
government that is predisposed and committed to reducing the suffering of Ghanaians. Over the last five years we have implemented measures to alleviate or mitigate the suffering of Ghanaians over the last five years:

1. We have paid the bills of some $1 billion annually in excess capacity charges) to keep the lights on and “dumsor” away.

2. Reduced electricity tariffs cumulatively by 10.9% compared to a cumulative increase of 264% under the previous government.

3. Provided free water for households for a year during COVID

4. Provided free electricity for lifeline users and a 50% reduction for other users for a year. The electricity tariffs over the last five years have seen the lowest increase for any five year period over last thirty years!

5. We Doubled the Capitation Grant (From GH¢4.5 to GH¢10) for basic schools

6. Created jobs and stopped the freeze on recruitment in the public sector. Hundreds of thousands of people have been recruited.

7. Unlike the private sector which laid off thousands of workers and reduced salaries., there were no layoffs of public sector workers during COVID. An additional 58,000 nurses recruited on a permanent basis

8. Increased the share of the DACF to persons with disabilities by 50%.

9. Exempted Kayayei from market tolls

10. expanded the LEAP by 150,000 beneficiaries.

11. Expanded School Feeding from 1.6 million children to 2.1 million children, and also increased the amount spent on each child by 25 percent.

12. Restored Teacher Training Allowances

13. Restored Nursing Training Allowances

14. Established the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) of 100,000 graduates to build the job skills of our graduates to be absorbed into the workforce.

According to him, "These are programs we have continued with notwithstanding the current challenges which has resulted in sometimes delays in payments".

He continued:

15. Abolished the three-month pay policy for teachers who were paid for only 3 months after working for 2-3 years

16. Absorbing the cost of BECE and WASSCE exam registrations

17. Subsidized fertilizer for farmers

18. Abolished or reduced at least 18 taxes including excise duty on petroleum, VAT on financial services, real estate, domestic airline tickets, etc.

19. Reduced corruption associated with obtaining public services by digitization of service delivery

20. Provided GHC600 million of COVID funds for small businesses

21. made it easier for the renewal of NHIS membership through mobile phones

22. made it easier to clear goods from the port through the paperless process

23. Spent GHC25 billion to save the deposits of 4.6 million people and prevent a collapse of the banking system. Thousands of business enterprises would have collapsed otherwise with attendant job losses.

24. We have implemented free TVET

25. We have implemented the free senior high school initiative, providing free tuition, uniforms, textbooks and food to students and saving parents of over 1.2 million children significant amounts per child for each year of senior high school.