Government to adopt measures to stem threat to economy

Finance Minister Seth Terkper on Monday said Government is committed to adopt necessary policy measures to stem any slips that could threaten the country’s macro-economic stability.

Speaking at the Standard Bank West African Investors’ conference 2013, in Accra, Mr Terkper said Government was bent on getting the macro-economic environment right and would respond appropriately anytime certain dangers arose to defeat its objectives.

The conference was attended by a group of equity investors, which are part of a team invited for an African investment road show by the Standard Bank Group, the parent company of Stanbic Bank Ghana.

The conference is to allow the investors to get first-hand information on Ghanaian listed companies to help them to make informed decisions.

Mr. Terkper said the fuel subsidy and public sector wages were becoming a destabilising factor on the economy and that Government had to quickly move in to avoid any negative impact on the economy.

He said government’s goal is to extend the tenor of the bonds that are issued between 12 and 15 years, adding that the Executive was in discussion with the World Bank and other multilateral agencies to deploy appropriate risk management tools and insurance scheme to make this possible.

Mr Terkper said the Government’s focus remained on infrastructure development going forward to open up the country and to facilitate foreign direct investment exclusively or through the Public Private Partnership in the oil and gas sectors.