Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has assured Ghanaians in the diaspora of government’s readiness to make Ghana a business friendly economy in Africa.
He made this assertion during when addressing a high delegation of business moguls in Washington, D.C over the weekend.
The Vice President was accompanied by Senior Minister, Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, the CEO of GIPC, and the President’s Advisor for Media and Special Projects to London and Washington, D.C. for the meeting.
The team met with investors, bond holders, government officials, the Diaspora, and other key stakeholders. They are participated in 2017 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Throughout a series of public events and high level meetings, the delegation delivered a consistent message thus; government will control the debt and get Ghana working again.
Toward the end of last year, investors and the international community expressed concerns over Ghana’s debt profile, which ballooned from $9.5B in 2008 to $122B in 2016. In engagements this past week, the delegation has emphasized that an immediate focus for the Akufo-Addo administration is to restructure the country’s existing debt away from the current short term, high interest loans to longer term, lower interest loans that will save Ghanaian tax payers money.
International investors demonstrated their confidence government’s strategy two weeks ago when they flocked to purchase $2.25B in cedi denominated bonds which would be used as part of the re-profiling to replace the more expensive debt with less expensive debt.
The Vice President and Minister of Finance have been articulating government’s plan to increase revenue by fighting corruption, erasing ghost workers from the payroll, lowering taxes, addressing the energy crisis and creating an environment that is conducive to investment.
The team has also laid out plans to improve the country’s infrastructure, increase efficiency at the ports, and establish a national ID and address system. The trip comes on the heels of the introduction of the government’s first budget, which delivered on campaign promises such as free SHS, $1 million in development funds for each district, and expanded agriculture investments that will create jobs for the youth.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
