The Ministry of Trade and Industry would soon institute a professional tax-collecting scheme, involving expert tax collectors, to help recover over ?7 billion in loans granted under the Business Assistance Fund (BAF).
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, who stated this, said legal action would be brought against people who persistently fail to repay the loans.
Dr Apraku was speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop to evaluate the pilot phase of the Promotion of Small and Micro Enterprises (PSME) project at Elmina on Monday.
The project, which is jointly sponsored by the governments of Ghana and Germany, with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) as its implementation agency, aims at promoting private sector initiatives and investments to help reduce unemployment and raise living standards.
It also seeks to enhance the quantity and quality of financial services available for the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs). Dr Apraku said the NBSSI would be equipped with skilled personnel and refocused to efficiently and competently re-channel the monies recovered into other MSEs to help improve on products and services as well as compete on the global market.
He charged the banks and other financial institutions to also develop concrete ways to help secure funds to support the activities of the MSEs, noting that "the MSEs are critical building blocks in the government's programme to make the private sector the engine of growth in the economy".
He assured donor countries that the government would ensure the judicious use of all resources given, adding "we would ensure there is zero tolerance for corruption in our efforts to move the nation forward".
Dr Apraku advised the implementation agencies and stakeholders not only to be motivated by the profits to be accrued from the project but to be committed and ensure its success.
The NBSSI Co-ordinator of the programme, Ms. Anna Armo-Himbson, said one of the components of the project is the operation of a credit fund by the Bank of Ghana through the commercial banks to the MSEs, which she said has helped to provide financial support for some enterprises.
She explained that the workshop would afford them the opportunity to take stock of what has so far been achieved and provide a firm basis for planning for future programmes.
