NPP offers solutions to economic crisis

The Economic Team of the New Patriotic Party has outlined six measures the John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress government needs to adopt if it truly wants to end the current economic crisis facing Ghana.

These include: restoring fiscal discipline in all departments of the public sector; reducing the appetite for borrowing from both domestic and foreign sources; a focused plan to enhance revenue mobilization but not through increased taxation; reviving Ghana’s ailing agricultural sector; job creation; and finally the appointment of competent people to run the affairs of the nation.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday at the International Press Centre on “Ghana’s troubled Economy”, the head of the Economic Team of the NPP, Yaw Osafo Maafo explained that the Mahama government’s current economic management style, consisting of reckless spending, more borrowing and increased taxation will lead to economic suicide.

Government, according to Mr Osafo Maafo, must tackle corruption earnestly and sincerely, adding that gargantuan payments in the name of judgement and settlement debts must cease, and all monies paid illegally recovered in accordance with Supreme Court orders.

Furthermore, the NPP team proposed that inefficient spending and excessive spending on programs such as Guinea fowl development, tree planting and GYEEDA should be eliminated to avoid waste and corruption.

“Secondly, government should reduce its appetite for borrowing from both domestic and foreign sources. In 2013 alone, interest payments on debt are projected to be over GH¢3.2 billion, almost as much as the entire budget of the Health sector. The way to avoid excessive interest payments is not to borrow more. It just does not make sense.

“High domestic borrowing crowds out the private sector and collapses businesses thereby increasing unemployment. The administration must steer this nation off debt crisis. We have learnt lessons from the HIPC experience, and we should not repeat it,” Mr Osafo Maafo said.

In this regard, Mr Osafo Maafo called on the Bank of Ghana to obey the Bank of Ghana Act which places a limit on its lending to government, but which, unfortunately, the Bank of Ghana continues to ignore with impunity.

The third solution to the nation’s economic mess, proposed by the NPP economic team, is a focused plan to enhance revenue mobilization but not through increased taxation. Enhanced revenue mobilization, Mr Osafo Maafo noted, must begin with deep reforms being instituted at the Ghana Revenue Authority and not by the setting up of a revenue collection taskforce headed by the Chief of Staff.

A plan to revive Ghana’s ailing agricultural sector of the economy was the fourth proposal outlined by the NPP Economic Team. Toward this end, Mr Osafo Maafo is urging the government to adapt the integrated approach to the agricultural sector that was proposed by the NPP and well executed partly under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) project.

The fifth step to solving the economic crisis, which Mr Osafo Maafo noted should be a top priority for the government, is job creation.

“Government must stop paying lip service to the private sector. High lending rates, non-payment of contractors, dumsor dumsor, and excessive taxation only serve to increase the cost of doing business and will contract rather than expand the economy. Jobs cannot be created in such an environment. Addressing these challenges is key to growing the private sector and creating jobs,” the NPP man said.

He continued, “Finally, government must appoint competent people to man the affairs of this nation rather than put square pegs in round holes as a way of rewarding party loyalists and cronies.”