Kwesi Pratt outlines solutions to Ghana's problems

Managing Editor of Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has diagnosed why Ghana is suffering and for which reason the government has opted for a Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as well as her resort to an IMF bailout to restoring the economy.

According to Mr. Pratt, the DDEP is not the solution to Ghana's problems.

He argued that the nation faces a bigger problem that when looked at will help to alleviate the plight of the citizenry.

He questioned why Ghana, as the 6th largest gold producer in the world, only reap 2 percent of benefits from her gold sector while the 98 percent goes to foreign countries.

"The mining companies who extract our gold and return just 2 percent to the Ghana economy, what are we telling them? Compare that to bondholders' money. As we speak now, Ghana is the 6th largest producer of gold in the world but when we export the gold, only 2 percent comes back to Ghanaian economy. What are we doing about that?...Ninety-eight (98) percent of the value of gold extracted from this country doesn't stay in the Ghanaian economy", he said.

He also stated that the dollarization of goods and services in the country is one factor crippling the economy.

"Do you know that America is indebted more than Ghana? How come America is indebted than Ghana but the American economy is not in that distress we are in?", he asked.

"Very simple reason; America's debt is in dollar which is their own currency. They are in debt but it is in dollars. So, if America wants to defray their debt, they won't worry themselves to go to the IMF and World Bank to do what we are doing. All they do is to print more dollars. Of course, when they print more dollars, it comes with repercussions like high inflation and so forth but they don't have to go through this to be able to pay their loans", he explained.

He further explained why Ghana is in distress albeit America owes more than the country is indebted.

"Why is Ghana suffering? We are indebted but it's not up to how much America owes. But our debt is in dollars; our debt is not in cedis but dollars. So, how can we clear our debt? We have to work and produce products that we can sell in dollars to pay our debt. This is our headache. The structure of the global economy does not favor us. As we speak, the US Dollar is the preferred currency for international trade. That is part of the reasons why we are suffering. It is partly responsible for our headache. That is the problem!"

To him, Ghana will progress only when the nation does things differently.

"How do we change the world economy order? How do we insulate the national economy from foreign influence and foreign domination? How do we make sure that Ghanaians own their own natural resources and exploit these natural resources in their own interest? That is all; there is no magic."

He made these submissions on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" discussion programme Tuesday morning.