The Minister of Finance, Mr. Seth Terkper made a presentation on Ghana’s economy at a programme held at the R. S. Amegashie Auditorium of the University of Ghana Business School.
The Presentation which was on the topic, “The State of the Ghana Economy: Recent History and Immediate Prospects”, was jointly organized by the School of Law, University of Ghana Business School, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and the Department of Economics.
Mr. Seth Terkper touched on key macroeconomic strategies when implemented, would significantly improve Ghana’s economic growth and development. These, he said, included economic stabilization through the IMF Programme, prudent debt management and the control of fiscal overruns by government. Speaking on economic growth indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Fiscal Deficit, as well as Inflation, Mr. Seth Terkper indicated that Ghana’s GDP since 2000, steadily rose from 3.5% to 11.5% in 2011 before decelerating to 7.1% in 2013 and further to 4.0% in 2014 mainly on account of energy challenges. He indicated that government had implemented macroeconomic policies such as intensive domestic revenue mobilization, increased export-led growth with less dependency on imports, as well as instituting funds like the heritage, stabilization and contingency funds that would consolidate Ghana’s Lower Middle Income Status, facilitate inclusive growth; and create more and better jobs for Ghanaians.
The Finance Minister aligned the fiscal deficits to revenue shortfalls caused by unstable world commodity prices of gold, cocoa and oil, Ghana’s major foreign exchange earners. He also pointed to the low corporate tax revenue and government’s huge social spending on utilities, salaries and social interventions, as well as increased borrowing from development partners such as the World Bank as challenges facing the economy, but added that the fiscal deficits had been reduced from 11.5% of GDP in 2012 to 10.2% in 2014 and projected to decline further to 7.3% in 2015. He also noted some factors that challenged the economy, such as the disruption in the supply of gas from Nigeria which led to the famous “dumsor” mantra, as well as debt arrears from the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), and cuts in donor grants and loans. He further remarked that in the ensuing years, Ghana would remain a middle income country where small medium enterprises (SMEs) would be supported to protect jobs and a long term national interest superseded all other interests. This depended on executing the 22-point communiqué from the Senchi Consensus and other home-grown economic policies.
Mr. Seth Terkper was however optimistic that, despite these economic challenges, the prospects for the future remained good and that Ghanaians should not be despondent by the current situation. He maintained that the way forward is for Government to appropriate long-term projects financing by instituting the Ghana Infrastructure Fund (GIF), from which proceeds of the project would be used to pay off debts. Moreover, government needed to expand the services sector; discover more oil and gas fields, with recent ones being the TEN and Sankofa fields, and the coming on stream of the country’s own gas processing plant at Atuabo in the Western Region. All of these prospects, he noted would help Ghana achieve its medium term macroeconomic objectives.
The Provost of the College of Humanities, Professor Samuel Agyei-Mensah who chaired the event on behalf of Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, noted that aim of the forum was to bridge the gap between academia and policy makers. He emphasized the need for academia to update government with current research findings that serve as inputs to bring change and development.
The Dean of the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Joshua Abor who delivered the welcome remarks reiterated the University’s commitment to remaining a research intensive institution. He called on academics, policy makers and interest groups to work together to achieve the vision and mission of the country’s premier university.
The presentation was attended by Heads of Departments, faculty from the various departments, students and staff of the University.
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