BUDGET: Cocoa to remain top Earner

Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo pledged that the government will use the first half of its four-year term to intensify revenue generation from sectors that are already driving the economy. According to the minister Cocoa will continue to be the mainstay of the economy for the next few years.

He told a meeting of United Nations Investment Committee at its meeting in Accra that in the long term, Ghana would diversify the country’s export base to include salt production in which Ghana has a comparative advantage.

Ghana has a huge potential for salt production along its coastal belt with ready market for the product even in the West African sub-region. Nigeria the biggest economy in the sub region imports about 2.4 billion cedis worth of salt annually from Brazil with other countries in sub region apart from Senegal being potential export destinations for Ghana’s salt.

Another sector, which would be targeted to diversify the economy according to Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo is tourism the higher foreign exchange earner.