AGI, GOV'T. AGREE ECONOMY IS STABLE

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The Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper, says the national economy is in a turnaround mode and also stabilizing. 

He said however, that the country is not out of the woods yet and that there is no room for complacency. 

Mr. Terkper said this at the 56th Annual General Meeting of the Association of Ghana Industries, AGI, in Kumasi.

 AGI is the umbrella and advocacy body for medium and large scale private industries in Ghana. 

This is the first time in its 56 years that the Annual General Meeting of the Association has been held in the Ashanti region. The AGM was on the theme: “Growing Local Industry for Export Development and Job Creation”. 

The Finance Minister assured that there is a very positive outlook for the national economy with an equally positive rating by external agencies.

 Mr. Terkper noted however that there is no room for complacency as government is still taking some important measures to further improve the economy, especially in its debt management. 

He said government is being diligent and careful in its expenditure adding that Ghana must learn to live within its means. 

Mr. Terkper disclosed that government will very soon inaugurate the EXIM Bank to support the private sector particularly in their export businesses.

 A former Rector of GIMPA, Professor Stephen Adei, who was the Guest Speaker, noted that the private sector remains the main employer in Ghana with government employing less than one million of the total workforce in the country. 

He called for effective human resource development through the formal education system from the basic to the tertiary level as well as a closer collaboration among the government, industry and the Technical Universities to realize the objective of the concept. 

This, he said, is one of the key means of addressing the unemployment canker. In his report, the President of AGI, James Asare-Adjei, applauded President John Mahama for his intervention leading to the suspension of the Terminal Handling Charges at the Ports. 

This decision, according to him, has save Ghana more than 78 million Dollars in moneys that could have been repatriated by foreign shipping companies. 

Mr. Asare-Adjei also  commended government for its its efforts that have stabilized the economy and urged that the gains be sustained. 

He commended government and its partners for the successful TEN project as well as the coming on stream next year of the ENI gas which, he noted will be a significant contribution to the economy. 

He however enumerated some challenges undermining industry. 

These include high utility tariffs and warned that industry can no longer continue to subsidize domestic energy consumption.

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