Gov’t not oblivious to macroeconomic challenges – MoF

Mrs Mona Helen Quartey, Deputy Minister of Finance, said Government was not oblivious to macroeconomic challenges of the falling cedi, energy crisis and rising cost of production inimical to business growth.

Therefore, she said: “Government is leaving no stone unturned in turning the challenging macroeconomic situation around within the shortest possible time.”

Mrs Quartey said this at the 54th Annual General Meeting and Business Luncheon of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) on Wednesday.

She blamed the dwindling economic fortune of the nation on the fact that almost every product consumed was imported and thus exposed the country to unbridled external shock.

“Because of the fact that we are price takers, commodity price shocks affect us adversely, a case in point is 2013 when both gold and cocoa prices suffered declines, leading to a reduction in foreign exchange inflows,” she said.

She said in addition to speculative tendencies, piled an upward pressure on the exchange rate forced it to decline rapidly against the major trading currencies.

Mrs Quartey said Government had instituted raft of policies to stem the challenges and urged the private sector to respond appropriately to help stabilise the economy and create the congenial atmosphere for businesses to thrive.

She said Government pulled back the exchange rate measures introduced early this year because of numerous complaints from the business sector, adding, “it is evident that since the removal of some of these measures, the cedi has largely stabilised…”

She also announced that Ghana was set to produce its first gas from the Jubilee Field by the first quarter of 2015 to be used primarily for power generation.

Government is still committed to increasing the installed electricity generation capacity to 5000Megawats by 2016 while more gas would also be flown in the TEN (Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme) Field and Sankofa-Gye Nyame Fields by 2017 to supply cheaper energy to industry for production.

The Deputy Minister urged banks to reduce the costs of borrowing while businesses should pay their taxes and avoid evading fee payments on dutiable goods.

Mr Terence Darko, GEA President, urged Government to ensure that attention was given to the immediate stabilisation of the cedi and the reduction of the fiscal deficit in the shortest possible time.

“Above all Government must show the way in patronising made-in-Ghana products and services in order to reduce the pressure on Ghana’s forex reserves,” he said.

He called on Government to work hand in hand with the business community to improve the macroeconomic environment to bolster investor confidence in the country.