IMF team due next week

A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is due in Ghana next week for the second assessment of the country's programme with the fund, President John Dramani Mahama has said.

The first assessment earlier this year saw the IMF giving Ghana high marks.

Even before the team's arrival, the President said, he had seen the performance figures, which were very encouraging.

President Mahama said this when he interacted with the business community in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi last Sunday night as part of his two-day working visit to the region.

He maintained that the IMF programme was homegrown and that the government was committed to keeping with fiscal discipline in order to meet the goals set under the three-year programme in order to stabilise the micro-economy.

Private sector support

Enumerating the many programmes the government was initiating to boost the private sector, the President said: "In the last two to three years, we have given very significant support to the private sector, especially in agribusiness."

"Now private companies have been set up and they are buying our local rice for processing for both the local and export markets," he added.

Although he expressed appreciation to the private sector for its tremendous contribution to Ghana’s economic growth, he challenged it to think outside the box to advance the growth.

Mr Mahama suggested, for instance, that the Ashanti Region, as the epicentre of business in Ghana, provides opportunity for businesses to venture into manufacturing.

Tough decisions

President Mahama urged the private sector to stand solidly behind the government when it took tough decisions to improve the economy.

He indicated that taking such decisions did not mean he was wicked but that he wanted to restore micro-economic stability

He also asked private businesses to pay their taxes promptly.

The President was not happy with the high interest rates charged by the banks, asking, "When you borrow at 25 per cent, what business can you do to make profit?"

Notwithstanding the challenges, he said, the Agenda for Transformation being pursued by the government was bound to turn things around by bringing down inflation, which would reflect in a reduction in interest rates.

President Mahama said efforts to resolve the power crisis were on course.