Coronavirus: Think outside the box to resuscitate the economy - Spio-Garbrah

Former Minister of Trade, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has said authorities will have to go beyond the ordinary to enable them to resuscitate the local economy following the ravages of the Coronavirus pandemic.

He noted that the pandemic has badly affected the global economy especially developing countries like Ghana, a situation that requires thinking outside the box to address.

Speaking in an interview with TV3’s Alfred Ocansey, the former Education Minister said “Economy has been diminished and ravaged.

“Ghana is looking at something below 1 per cent GDP growth when we were 7 per cent growth before COVID

“It takes organization, it takes the spirit of capacity to do, and it takes ingenuity, it takes thinking outside of the box, it takes doing things differently, yet not everyone seems to realize it. Our path is really swallowed up in a lot of poor decision making.”

Meanwhile, as part of measures to help deal with the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the economy, the government has earmarked GHS600million which is being disbursed by the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) to support small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).

The Executive Director of the NBSSI, Kosi Antiwaaa Yankey-Ayeh, has disclosed that GH¢400 million out of the earmarked GH¢600 million Covid-19 stimulus package has been disbursed to SME that applied for the government package.

Speaking on TV3’s New Day Monday, September 14, Ms Yankey-Ayeh said “about GH¢400 million has been pushed”.