Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said President Nana Akufo-Addo must be applauded for his “compassionate” leadership in the COVID-19 fight.

The Ofoase Ayirebi MP made the comment while contributing to the debate on the mid-year budget review presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on Thursday, 23 July 2020.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah noted that it is the responsibility of the government to recognise the adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Ghanaians and to initiate measures that can ease the pain.

“Any President who has compassion for his people, any President who cares for his people, must put in place a clear and bold recovery programme, which restores Ghana’s recent economic success, builds a self-reliant economy and improves the quality of lives eventually”, he said.

“This bold revitalisation programme, Ghana CARES, which was announced by the Honourable Minister responsible for Finance on Thursday, will mobilise GH₵100 billion to reinvest in the Ghanaian economy to bring back growth, lost jobs, incomes and improve on quality of lives”, Mr Oppong Nkrumah noted.

“Under President Akufo-Addo, Ghana CARES is established to ensure that food security is not hampered. In times like these, with shutdowns and lockdowns, food security is a risk to any economy”, he said.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah added: “You will notice that under this programme, attention is paid to ensuring that agricultural productivity is restored, food is available and at affordable prices, protecting the livelihoods of farmers and rate rest of our population. Under President Akufo-Addo, Ghana CARES is about people’s businesses. Therefore, a key component of this programme is to continuously support businesses. Already, nearly GH₵1 billion is being made available through the CAPBUS loan scheme for MSMEs,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah noted.

The Minister also noted that the Guarantee Scheme of up to GH¢2 billion will enable businesses to borrow from banks at more affordable rates and at a longer tenor and will save businesses from collapsing.

“Another GH₵2 billion credit line is being made available to medium and large enterprises to stimulate economic activity in these sectors. For those who have lost jobs and unemployment, the insurance programme is to be introduced to assist them protect livelihoods in these tough times. And, additionally, a chunk of this money will be used to inject liquidity into the Ghanaian economy and stimulate activity across sectors”, he said.