Ghana government charged to make economy export-oriented
Some Economists have asked the government to direct its energy into implementing policies and programmes that will change the structure of the economy from being import dependent to an export-oriented one.
That, they said would be a long-term measure to address the consistent inflationary pressures, depreciation of the cedi against its major trading currencies (the Dollar in particular), which posed economic hardship on Ghanaians.
They said, the government must invest in agriculture and manufacturing through stronger partnerships with players in the private sector and create the enabling environment for businesses in the value chain to be more productive and resilient.
Contributing to discussion on the current inflation rate and its implications on the economy, Dr Patrick Asuming, a Development Economist said that there was the need to restructure the economy.
He noted that though the governments had good policies, their implementation lacked the effectiveness that could change the economy.
Dr Asuming said that: “We are not a country that is not short of ideas. But when it comes to implementation that is our bane. We must have a long-term structure to rebalance our economy.”
As a short-term measure, the Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) asked the government to further reduce its expenditure, “so that we focus on the productive part of our economy, especially agriculture.”
“The government should focus more on expanding our export base so that we can feel the real changes in our balance of payment per our policies,” the Development Economist advised.
Dr Kofi Orleans Lindsay, an Economist, called for more cooperation between the government and the private sector in the country’s quest to industrialise, and shift from depending largely on tax revenue.
He said that: “We need to structure our economy especially the path between the government and the private sector. Our budget is only dependent on tax revenue and that is not enough. We need to industrialise.”
Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) asked the government to ensure that it invested loans borrowed into the country’s productive sector for development and job creation.
He said: “Even when you borrow invest in the development of the country and not for consumption and profligacy. We are in crisis so; government must show us the way forward and stop the flimsy excuses.”
For his part, Mr Dennis Miracles Aboagye, Director of Local Government said that: “We have our own domestic challenges, but we cannot be blind and pretend the external issues do not affect us.”
Mr Aboagye was confident that the government’s flagship programmes, including the One District-One Factory (1D1F) would provide solutions to the challenges the country was facing.
He said that: “The little factories that we (the government) have set up in the middle to long term when they peak things will be better and our cedi will be stabilised.”
Inflation rate for July 2022 was 31.7 per cent, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) announced on Wednesday August 10. This is up from the 29.8 per cent recorded in June.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its July World Economic Outlook (updated) said that: “With increasing prices continuing to squeeze living standards worldwide, taming inflation should be the first priority for policymakers.
Tighter monetary policy will inevitably have real economic costs, but delay will only exacerbate them.”
Source: GNA