The President of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), Terence Darko, has called for removal of various obstacles in implementing the new national pension scheme, fearing it could rob retired workers of their mandatory income security.
Speaking at the 54th annual general meeting and business luncheon of the Association in Accra, he said the various pension structures and implementation processes must be streamlined to enable workers benefit fully from the scheme.
“As we speak, we have not been able to resolve the issues of past credits of contributors to the social security scheme; the second-tier occupational pension scheme is yet to take shape.
“These challenges have led to the situation where employers are failing to register and pay workers’ contributions to the various service providers, especially to the second-tier,†he said.
Mr. Darko said strong collaborations between the GEA and the Trades’ Union Congress (TUC) to address the issue is gradually yielding dividends, and prayed the current implementation challenges will be removed for the benefit of pension contributors.
The business luncheon, themed “Effective Management of the National Pensions Scheme for Socio-economic Developmentâ€Â, brought together members of the Association to discuss issues of interest and make fruitful suggestions to impact its members and employers in general.
On his assessment of the Ghanaian economy, Mr. Darko cited government’s inability to meet its macroeconomic targets in the last couple of years as a major difficulty facing employers and the business community.
“Inflation is on the increase, while the strength of the local currency, the cedi, is on the decline with the speed of the wind against major currencies. The cost of doing business is growing, making Ghanaian businesses uncompetitive,†he noted.
Mr. Darko said central bank’s moves to shore-up the value of the cedi are not yielding the desired results as businesses continue to grapple with shortages and delays in obtaining forex for their transactions, at great cost to the business community.
“Government must help to make local businesses more competitive by leading the way in patronising made-in-Ghana products and services to reduce the pressure on the country’s forex reserves.
“There must also be an effective collaboration between government and the business community to improve the macroeconomic environment to bolster investor confidence in the country,†he noted.
The Deputy Finance Minister, Helen Mona Quartey, assured the employers that government is aware of impacts from the falling cedi, the continual energy crises and the rising costs of production on businesses in the country, and that it is working to avert the situation.
“Government is leaving no stone unturned in solving the challenging macroeconomic situation within the shortest possible time.
“For instance, the exchange rate measures that were introduced in January this year have been pulled back due to complaints from the business sector, and it is evident that the cedi has largely stabilised since their removal,†she said, and partly blamed the current economic downslide on the increased imports to the country.
“The practice where we import almost every consumable product in the country exposes the economy to uncontrollable external shocks. Because of the fact that we are price-takers, commodity price shocks affect us adversely,†she said.
By Konrad Kodjo Djaisi & Esther Asabea | B&FT Online | Ghana
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