Ken Ofori-Atta, Finance Minister

Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta says Ghanaians must not despair but have hope that the current economic challenges will be a thing of the past.

Government has admitted the economy is currently facing challenges, with the Finance Ministry imposing a raft of measures geared at stemming the tide.

The rise in prices of essential commodities remains an issue of concern for many.

Relying on his personal experience, Mr Ofori-Atta said he failed his Advanced Level exams.

“I have gone through that, and, therefore, I know. I went through 6th form in Achimota. Just so giddy and happy, and I completely failed my A-level. And my dad said oh really.

“Why don’t you drive me around. Because as far as he was concerned, you had the capacity, and you had messed up.

“I drove dad around, and he was parliamentarian for Bregoro at that time,” he said at a National Youth Authority Breakfast Meeting of youth agencies on Friday.

He continued that he spent the waiting time to retake the exam by sitting in Parliament, watching debates and teaching at Accra Academy.

He stated that these developments showed that God had a plan for him.

Mr Ofori-Atta assured that government has three years to turn things around.

This period he argued, is as valuable as Jesus’ three years of ministry on earth and not too short for economic recovery to take the country to “Jerusalem”.