Claim: A leading member of the National Democratic Congress, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, claimed that former President Attah Mills and John Mahama recorded single-digit inflation for many months during their tenure in office.
Verdict: Misleading. Even though the late President John Evans Atta Mills’ regime recorded single-digit inflation, former President John Mahama did not experience single-digit inflation.
Full Text
A leading member of the National Democratic Congress, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has claimed that both former President Attah Mills and John Mahama recorded single-digit inflation for many months during their tenure in office.
He made the assertion during the Hot Issues with Kemini Amanor on TV3. His statement can be found from the 7:15 – 7:53 of the show published on its Facebook page on Jan. 21, 2024.
“Under then NDC government, especially under President Mahama and before him President Mills, we had enjoyed single-digit inflation for many months.” Dr Spio-Garbrah claimed.
The claim has garnered over 2,000 views and 27 shares as of the time of writing this report.
Verification
First, DUBAWA established the years the late former presidents John Atta Mills and John Mahama spent in office to tackle the claim.
The late President John Evans Atta Mills was in office from 2009 to 2012. Former president John Mahama was also in office from 2013 to 2016.
Inflation rates during the late president John Evans Atta Mills’ regime.
DUBAWA, however, sourced its data from two financial institutions. The World Bank and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). We checked if, during his tenure in office, there was single-digit maintenance for many months.
Data from the World Bank cited 19.2%, 10.7%, 8.7%, and 11.2% as the year-on-year inflation rates for 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 respectively.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), as quoted from page 3 of data from the Ghana Living Standards, states that inflation from 2009 to 2012 was 19.3%, 10.8%, 8.7%, and 9.2%, respectively.
| ANNUAL INFLATION RATE | ||
| YEAR | WORLD BANK | GSS |
| 2009 | 19.2% | 19.3% |
| 2010 | 10.7% | 10.8% |
| 2011 | 8.7% | 8.7% |
| 2012 | 11.2% | 9.2% |
The late President Mills’ tenure ended in July 2012. If single-digit inflation were recorded in the entire month of 2011, that would be 12 months. If the seven months of 2012 (Jan-July) were to be added, the result would be 19 months of single-digit inflation and not 33 months.
According to the above data, it is evident that the late President John Evans Atta Mills’ regime witnessed single-digit inflation from 2011 to 2012.
Inflation rates during former John Mahama’s regime
DUBAWA looked at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bank of Ghana , and the Finance Ministry to find out what the inflation figures were at the time.
For the IMF, inflation rates from 2013 to 2016 were 11.7%, 15.5%, 17.2%, and 17.5% respectively.
For the World Bank, inflation rates from 2013 to 2016 were 11.7%, 15.5%, 17.1%, and 17.5%, respectively.
On page 10 of the Annual Report of the Bank of Ghana, inflation rates during the reign of the former finance minister were 13.5%, 17.0%, 17.7%, and 15.4%, respectively.
Page 15 of the 2016 Annual Debt Management Report from the Ministry of Finance also quotes the exact figures recorded by the Bank of Ghana.
| Year | Annual Inflation Rate | |||
| World Bank | IMF | Ministry of Finance | Bank of Ghana | |
| 2013 | 11.7% | 11.7% | 13.5% | 13.5% |
| 2014 | 15.5% | 15.5% | 17% | 17.0% |
| 2015 | 17.1% | 17.2% | 17.7% | 17.7% |
| 2016 | 17.5% | 17.5% | 15.4% | 15.4% |
Per the data above, it is untrue that John Mahama’s regime recorded single-digit inflation for months.
Conclusion
The claim that former President Attah Mills and John Mahama recorded single-digit inflation for many months during their tenure in office is misleading. Former President Attah Mills did, but former President John Mahama did not.
