Get a grip

摘要

Christmas hampers must not be dished out this year by government departments at taxpayers' expense. That was the nub of a suitably puritanical edict issued recently by the office of President John Mahama. Belt-tightening is-or at least should be-the order of the day. Ghana is still west Africa's biggest economic and political success. But several recent figures are sobering. Inflation is soaring above 13%. The budget deficit widened fast last year, from 4% to nearly 12% of gdp, partly due to a splurge in spending by the government in the run-up to the presidential and general elections of December 2012, which Mr Mahama's National Democratic Congress narrowly won. Steep rises in the price of electricity and water, both in erratic supply, plus increases in food costs, have shrunk the real value of wages. The local currency, the cedi, has continued to slide, halving in value against the dollar since 2008. The price of gold, Ghana's most valuable export, has been dropping. Cocoa has missed its production target.