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Former Finance Minister Seth Terkper has cautioned that economic crises are inevitable, urging Ghana to strengthen its buffers to withstand external shocks.
He noted that global markets operate in cycles, making it unrealistic for any economy to function for long without experiencing some form of disruption.
His comments come amid growing concerns that rising tensions in the Middle East could push up global crude oil prices, with potential impacts on fuel costs, inflation, and the stability of the Ghanaian cedi.
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Speaking on Joy News, Mr Terkper stressed that both domestic and external crises are natural parts of economic management.
“I’ve always said, in so many interviews, that you cannot run an economy for two to three years, the longest four, without one crisis or another. It may be domestic; it may be external,” he said.
He explained that economists anticipate such fluctuations and have developed tools to manage them, including counter-cyclical policies designed to stabilise economies during downturns.
“Economists have something called counter-cyclical policies. It means that you know that the economy rises and falls — it’s good and bad,” he added.
Mr Terkper urged Ghanaians to prepare for possible economic shocks, particularly as fears grow over a potential increase in petroleum prices linked to escalating tensions involving Iran.
He warned that without adequate preparation, external shocks such as rising import costs could weaken the local currency.
“If you don’t have sufficient food and you import with the reserves, it affects the currency. If it’s not something you can predict for later, it’s something you should know could happen,” he said.
He emphasised that such vulnerabilities are not new and should be factored into long-term economic planning, noting that commodity prices remain beyond Ghana’s control.
“Unless you prepare against them, events happen, and things go in circles. Commodity prices — we don’t control them. They go up, and they go down. This will appear,” he said.
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