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Ghana to adopt
prudent measures to tackle global economic recession
Accra, July 23, GNA- Vice President John Mahama on Thursday
said government was addressing the global economic recession
head on, through prudent fiscal and financial measures to
limit the negative impact on business and ensure quick
recovery of the economy.
Some of the measures being adopted include cuts in public
expenditure and robust resource mobilisation.
Vice President Mahama was speaking at roundtable organised
by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) on the
theme: “Turn-around Strategies During Global Recession,” in
Accra.
He
said government was careful in balancing its act to ensure
that the approaches did not harm the growth prospects of
businesses and to put the economy on sound footing for
growth.
His speech was read on his behalf by the Deputy Finance
Minister, Mr Seth Tekper.
Vice President Mahama said this balanced approach towards
the economic recovery process required strong partnership
between government and private sector in addressing the
challenges to absorb the shocks.
He stressed: “To survive the impact of this recession, we
need to rethink and re-engineer strategies in order to move
the country forward in the right direction.”
He said a key lesson from the crises was the need for
government through its institutions to perform oversight
responsibilities adequately, adding that the performance of
the task should not interfere with the growth prospects of
businesses.
Vice President Mahama said the crises had shown the world
that it was not time to be complacent but to remain focused
on strategies that could bring lasting and sustained
prosperity.
Dr Joseph Amoako Tuffuor, a tax advisor at the Ministry for
Finance and Economic Planning, who spoke on the policy
measures government was undertaking to deal with the crisis,
said because the country’s economy was vulnerable to
external shocks, there was the need to develop gate keeping
measures to contain the weaknesses.
As a solution, he suggested the need to streamline domestic
tax revenue mobilisation measures in order to broaden the
tax base and minimize tax deductions to resuscitate the
economy.
Dr Tuffuor said government was adopting short to long term
measures to tackle the effects of the crises, including
building international reserves to at least three months on
import cover, reducing public debt, and improving cash
management system as well as a comprehensive public sector
reform.
Government is also developing a comprehensive debt strategy
and aid policy document to co-ordinate how external
resources are used in engendering growth in the economy.
He said while there were signs of improvements in the
economy, the country was not out of the woods yet and that
continuous fiscal and sound monetary management was required
to ensure growth.
Mr Ibrahim Awal, Managing Director of GCGL, said the forum
was organised to engage business executives to share ideas
on how to tackle the global recession and its impact on
developing economies.
“Management hopes that with this sort of intellectual and
pragmatic engagement, we would be able to find a lasting
solution so that come next year, Ghana would be better off
than it is today,” he said.
GNA
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