Ghana's President, John Dramani Mahama has asked Ghanaians to stop being pessimists about the fortunes of the economy and look forward to a brighter and "calmer" future as he spends much of his time in addressing the challenges confronting the country.
The President who joined thousands of Muslims in the Central Mosque in Kumasi, the capital of Ghana's most populous region -Ashanti Region - to celebrate the end of Ramadan on Monday, said the Presidential Advisory Committee, which advises him on matters of the economy, will this week meet to follow through several measures that have been outlined to address the current challenges facing the economy.
"I currently spend a disproportionate large amount of my time on issues relating to the economy and the energy sector. As captain of the ship of state, I can assure that the signs of recovery will manifest in the latter part of this year for all of us to see.
"There are calmer waters ahead.
"My dear brothers and sisters, later this week, I will preside over a meeting of the Presidential Advisory Committee on economic recovery. This group will help me to guide the implementation of measures to restore the economy to prosperity.
"We will work to stabilize the currency and bring down inflation and interest rates. We are on a journey to transform our economy. We must create a permanent fix that cures our cyclical lose of economic stability. We must reform our public financial management and most of all, we must expand local production of goods and services.
"...We need to be optimistic and eschew any attitude of cynicism and pessimism. With faith, determination and hard work, we shall succeed as we apply all the knowledge and expertise we have in solving our problems," he said.
The President's comments follow recent civil agitations and last Thursday's nationwide demonstration spearheaded by Organised Labour in protest against government’s economic mismanagement, poor fiscal policies and growing hardship.
Since the year began, prices of petroleum products have been adjusted upwards by four times, which sums up to about 40 percent as a result of the slide in the cedi -- which has depreciated by about 30% against the US dollar.
The fall in the value of the Cedi also caused the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) to hike utilities tariffs by 12% and 6.1% for electricity and water respectively.
Additionally, inflation hit 15% in June from 13.5% at the start of the year.
More so, the Central Bank’s Policy Rate- which signals interest rate trends- has gone up for the second time this year from 18% to 19% as the Bank of Ghana moves to tighten its monetary policy in a bid to control inflationary pressures expected from the recent increase in utility tariffs and transportation costs as well as the depreciation of the Cedi.
Businesses also are now confronted with intense erratic power supply across the country, which has shot up their cost of operations.
The Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), which is the umbrella-body of private businesses, has described the sentiments and mood of businesses in the economy as “horribleâ€Â, “Shockingâ€Â, and “deterioratingâ€Â.
The Bank of Ghana has also expressed concerns about the waning consumer and business sentiments as well as tightened credit conditions that could impact on the general economic outlook.
According to President Mahama, government is now pursuing a number of measures to stabilize the cedi and put the economy on the path to prosperity.
He said following his State of the Nation address earlier this year, all the sector ministers have been tasked to pursue policies that will reduce the country's dependence on imports, cited as the principal factor in the depreciation of the cedi.
"I have noted all the public manifestation and criticisms expressed about the state of the economy over the last several weeks. I have also noted the recent demonstration by Organised Labour. As a social democrat, the working people are my natural allies. I therefore treat their concerns with all the seriousness they deserve.
"I therefore consider the message contained in the TUC demonstration as an encouragement to work harder on matters of the economy. The loud and clear message encourages me to continue the work that I'm doing to pull our country out of the economic challenges in which we find ourselves.
"...I have assigned tasks to my ministers emanating from my State of the Nation address and I am monitoring keenly the attainment of these important objectives. We are increasing investment in agriculture to increase the production of strategic commodities on which we spend a disproportionate amount of our foreign exchange.
"These investments are resulting in a positive increase in local rice production. Support to he poultry sector is also yielding impressive result. We are pursuing the revival of the Komenda Sugar Factory to help cut down on our huge import bill on sugar. We are also investing millions of cedis in local pharmaceutical companies to augment local production of drugs here in Ghana. Initiative in aqua culture will also create jobs and increase the supply of fish.
"This transformation is the surest security for the sustainable socio-economic transformation and development of our nation. I have every confidence that these measures will definitely begin to yield good results," he explained.
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