Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, if the Hon Member was listening to me carefully, I never even mentioned the name of former President Mahama. Clearly, he was not even listening to what I was saying.
Mr Speaker, 97,373 graduates have had opportunity under NABCO to prepare themselves for future jobs, 83,000 citizens have been recruited under the Forest Plantation Programme to help with the reforestation of our 6.5 million hectares of forest cover, which had been reduced to less than 750,000 hectares within a span of about 60 years.
Mr Speaker, an additional 138,026 Ghanaians have been recruited under various programmes to support public sector delivery. A number of 55,000 nurses who had completed their training, but who were left to rot at home have been recruited. Over 1000 sanitary facilities were at various stages of completion at the beginning of 2020 to address
open defecation. A number of 49,000 trainee nurses have been paid an amount of GH¢468 million in allowances, and equally so are 48,000 trainee teachers at the beginning of 2020 being paid an amount of GH¢ 532 million as allowances.
Mr Speaker, on support for industry and entrepreneurship, 181 companies at the beginning of 2020 have benefited from the 1D1F Programme. A number of 19,500 start-up businesses have also received training support under the Government Entrepreneurship Programme.
A number of 80 businesses and incubation hubs have also been set up across the country to build the capacity of entrepreneurs. A number of 20,000 students have by the beginning of 2020 been trained under the Student Entrepreneurship Initiative, and 100 disabled women have been empowered to start their own businesses.
Mr Speaker, pursuant to the allocation of the cedi equivalent of US$1 million to each constituency, the following have been delivered -- a number of 307 ambulances have been delivered to each constituency and all regional and teaching hospitals, 200 dams have been completed, and 560 additional dams were under construction at the beginning of 2020.
A number of 50 pre-fabricated green ware houses had been constructed by the end of 2019 to reduce post- harvest loses.
Mr Speaker, clearly, the country was on course for even greater achievements in 2020, predicated on expanded domestic revenue mobilisation, business regulatory reforms, intensified jobs for foreign direct investments, enhanced financial support to local enterprises, digitisation, accelerated infrastructural development, especially in roads, hospitals and educational facilities, and science and technology.
Mr Speaker, it is this demonstrable competence in the management of the economy that has resulted in Ghana consistently achieving at least, five out of the six Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rationalised convergence criteria in the areas of one, average inflation not exceeding 10 per cent, gross international reserves exceeding three months, import cover, central bank financing of budgets not exceeding 10 per cent of previous year's tax revenue, public debt to GDP being less than 70 per cent, and the normal exchange rate variation being around 10 per cent. All these have been achieved.
Mr Speaker, these are the five out of the six rationalised criteria that we have achieved under the Akufo-Addo regime. The country stumbled in only one criteria in both 2018 and 2019, and that was in the area of the budget deficit as a ratio of GDP. The target is less or equal to three per cent. Ghana had registered 3.5 per cent in 2018, and around the same figure in 2019. This compares with the best performance of attaining two out of the old other assessments, which had ten criteria. The country was able to attain only two of those rationalised criteria under President Mahama. Out of the ten primary and secondary criteria, their best performance was to attain only two. Today, we have attained five out of the six, and who are the better managers of this economy?
1. 20 p. m.
Mr Speaker, it must be made clear to all objective and neutral workers that the management of the economy under President Akufo-Addo is in capable hands, and indeed, it was until the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic struck. The well-structured work programme of the Government got choked by the virus, and Government had to review in view of the plan of action that has been functioned to take the country to the next level of accelerated economic development which the Minister has stated to
