Continue absorbing water and electricity bills – Economist urges govt

The government has been urged to continue absorbing the water and electricity bills as part of the measures to deal with the effect of the COVID-19 on Ghanaians.

Similarly, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has also been asked to prolong its interventions introduced to support businesses in the wake of the pandemic.

The central bank reduced its policy rate which triggered a drop in interest rate among commercial banks to cushion businesses

An Economist at the University of Ghana, Dr Adu Owusu Sarkodie, said an extension of the incentives will be needed as Ghana’s coronavirus cases keep increasing with its attendant impact.

“The Bank of Ghana will by now be better informed to advise the Finance Minister or government as to whether they should continue with this package, and I think they should continue so that we can help businesses many of whom are collapsing and have laid workers off, and are not making as much profit as needed,” he said.

“The government’s absorption of the water and part of electricity bills also helped to reduce the operation cost of business, and I think that the central bank should inform the government to encourage the continuation of such incentives,” he told Citi FM.