Lack of funding stifling private sector growth

Immediate-past President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Seth Adjei-Baah, is calling on government to fix the economy to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a grand ball organized by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in Accra, Dr. Baah also criticised the decision of government to always resort to the domestic market for loan, adding that it denies the private sector the ability to access funds.

He said: “Government is always competing with the business man for the money; but the fact is that the banks will always prefer to deal with government rather than the businessman who has a lot of risks in this competitive industry.

According to him, the lack of access to cheaper credit is stifling the development of the private sector of the economy.

Players within the private sector have bemoaned the high cost of doing business in Ghana due to the difficulty in accessing funds.

According to them, local businesses continue to post losses due to high interest rate which is now hovering around 35% to 40%.