Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament Andrew Egyapa Mercer has argued that Ghana’s economic decline was significantly worsened by parliamentary resistance to key revenue measures, particularly delays surrounding passage of the Electronic Levy.
Speaking on Joy News’ Newsfile, the former Sekondi legislator recalled events during approval of the 2022 budget, stressing that Parliament failed to comply fully with the Public Financial Management Act. The delays, he contends, sent damaging signals to investors and contributed to the economic crisis that ultimately forced Ghana to seek International Monetary Fund (IMF) support.
“Section 22 of the Public Financial Management Act enjoins Parliament to approve the budget, pass the appropriation, and pass every revenue measure by 31st December,” Mercer explained. “Parliament approved the budget and appropriation but refused to approve the revenue measures.”
According to Mercer, the refusal to approve the Electronic Levy (E-Levy) by the statutory deadline amounted to a breach of law and triggered immediate negative consequences for investor sentiment. “There were consequences,” he stated. “You saw investor movement. Confidence in the economy had begun to tank.”
The situation deteriorated further following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which disrupted global supply chains and drove up freight costs for import dependent economies like Ghana. “When freight costs increased to levels not seen since the Gulf War, that had an impact,” Mercer noted.
By the time Parliament eventually passed the E-Levy in early 2022, he argued that irreversible damage had already occurred to investor confidence. “By the time we came to pass the E-Levy, the horses had already bolted,” he said.
With revenue measures underperforming and external pressures mounting, Mercer said Ghana had little choice but to turn to the IMF. “We were left with no option than to go to the IMF,” he stated.
The E-Levy, which imposed a 1.75 percent charge on electronic transactions including mobile money transfers and bank transfers above 100 cedis, faced fierce opposition from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) minority in Parliament. The contentious debate over the measure led to physical altercations in the chamber and delayed its passage for months beyond the December 2021 deadline.
While defending the previous administration’s record, Mercer also called for honesty and continuity in assessing Ghana’s economic recovery. He pointed to falling inflation and improved gross domestic product (GDP) growth as evidence that recovery was underway before the January 2025 change in government.
“Inflation, which had peaked at 54 percent, dropped to about 23 percent by December 2024,” he said. “GDP growth in 2024 averaged about seven percent quarter on quarter. These are matters of fact.”
Mercer credited the IMF programme approved in May 2023 with playing a central role in stabilizing the economy and welcomed the current administration’s decision to continue with it. “It’s good that the IMF programme is still running,” he stated. “Governance is a continuum, and we should give credit where credit is due.”
He also praised ongoing work under the Gold Board, noting that it builds on the domestic gold purchase programme initiated under the previous administration. “They’ve improved it and strengthened what we started,” he said. “It’s a good thing for Ghana.”
However, Mercer criticized what he described as a mismatch between campaign promises made by the current government and developments on the ground. He cited the women’s development bank and the 24 hour economy initiative as examples.
“The president said the women’s development bank would be operational by July 2025. July has come and gone, and we haven’t seen anything,” Mercer said. Regarding the widely publicized 24 hour economy policy, he added, “Every billboard had the 24 hour sign on it. Today, people are saying it’s turning into a 419.”
Mercer also defended COVID era policy choices, arguing that economic difficulties Ghana faced after 2020 were not unexpected. He referenced a 2020 statement by then President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, in which the president acknowledged that while lost lives could not be recovered, the economy could be rebuilt.
“His Excellency was quite clear that the decisions he was taking at the time to protect all of us were going to lead to economic consequences,” Mercer said. “Unless you lived in some utopia, you could not misconstrue what he meant.”
He explained that once the immediate health crisis eased, Ghana inevitably confronted economic challenges, some of which were compounded by existing structural issues including debt accumulated from addressing the energy sector crisis and banking sector cleanup.
“It’s not as if it is only COVID that put us in the situation we found ourselves in,” he noted. “Earlier on, I mentioned the debt profile we had assumed in dealing with the energy sector and the banking sector. COVID came to compound it.”
According to Mercer, the government responded by rolling out policies aimed at restoring economic stability, including measures outlined during presentation of the 2022 budget. Those early recovery efforts, he argued, laid the foundation for later improvements in inflation and growth figures even before the NPP left office.
“Consistent with what His Excellency said in 2020, we had begun the process of rebuilding our economy before we left office,” he stated.
While acknowledging that more work remains on Ghana’s economic recovery, Mercer urged political actors to focus on facts rather than rewriting the narrative around the nation’s financial turnaround. “Good signs, no doubt,” he said, “but let’s be honest with the facts.”
