The presentation of the 2022 mid-year budget by the Finance Minister and his call on Ghanaians to rally behind the government as it seeks the support of the International Monetary Fund to address the unprecedented challenges facing the economy is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has called on Ghanaians to rally behind the government as it seeks the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address the unprecedented challenges facing the economy.
The minister said but for the COVID-19 challenges and the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the economy would have continued on a sound footing, with no need for an IMF support.
Mr Ofori-Atta said the government has the track record to navigating challenges and the current situation would not be an exception.
He was addressing Parliament when he appeared to present the 2022 mid year budget review.
His sixth in the row, the mid year review at a time when the government is in the first stages of discussion with the IMF for the country’s 18th economic support pogramme.
The minister said the uturn to the fund in spite of various commitments to the contrary followed the unprecedented challenges that tehe conomy was immersed in.
“Yes, I know this the government assured the nation of a Ghana beyond Aid and our plans and programmes for economic transformation have been designed to achieve just that, and indeed, I did say that Ghana would not embark on an IMF programme.
“We did not just say it,” he told the boisterous Members of Parliament (MPs) led by the Speaker, Mr Alban Bagbin.
“We also took measures towards the attainment of that objective, including the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and instituting a number of irreversibility measures, and also launching the Ghana CARES “Obaatan Pa” programme for economic revitalisation and transformation.
The newspaper says that the Minority in Parliament has stated that the mid-year budget review was not candid and truthful to Ghanaians about the economic challenges facing the country.
According to them, the country was in serious economic crisis, to the extent that its debt was unsustainable, but the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, failed to speak the truth to encourage Ghanaians to buy into the problems confronting the nation.
“I am disappointed in the statement by the minister. I think if the country is in crisis, to extent that your debt is unsustainable, then when you appear before Parliament, first you have to speak the truth to get the public buy-in,” the Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, said.
Addressing the press shortly after Mr Ofori-Atta had presented the mid-year budget review to Parliament yesterday, Dr Forson, flanked by some members of his caucus, said: “Everything is not working, yet the Minister responsible for Finance appeared before us and said nothing. He failed to address the very concerns of ordinary Ghanaians.”
Dr Forson said he was shocked that the government felt every challenge facing the country must be confronted with debt.
Such thinking, he said, largely contributed to the country’s public debt that was today in excess of GH¢400 billion but which the Finance Minister failed to talk about.
“I thought he would take the opportunity to address debt restructuring,” he said, adding: “Today, Ghana is a highly indebted middle-income country and our position is worse than the HIPC days.”
The Ranking Member further said when the 2022 budget was read in November last year, it got investors very jittery, as a result of which they started exiting Ghana’s market.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has put a break on its monetary policy tightening and maintained the Monetary Policy Rate at 19.0 per cent on the back of slow growth and rising inflation.
Since November 2021 to May 2022 the MPC has increased the MPR by 550 basis points in a bid to control inflation.
MPR is the rate at which the Bank of Ghana borrows to the commercial banks in the country, which serve as reference for them to price their loans.
The Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, who announced this in Accra yesterday after the 107th regular meeting of the MPC, said uncertainties in the global economy had heightened since the last MPC meeting in May 2022.
He said headline inflation in several advanced and emerging market economies had drifted further above set targets, amid escalating energy and food prices, as well as persistent and broadened supply chain bottlenecks.
“The global economy is now being threatened with historically high inflation and slowing growth, triggering recession concerns in many Bank of Ghana Monetary Policy Committee Press Release July 25, 2022 Advanced Economies. As a result, global growth forecast for 2022 has been downgraded and the IMF projects the world economy to grow by 3.6 percent as against the growth of 4.4 percent contained in its World Economic Outlook update of January 2022,” Dr Addison who chairs the MPCsaid.
Dr Addison indicated that global financing conditions had tightened further, reflecting monetary policy normalisation and expectations for further increases in policy rates, which had led to higher government bond yields, re-pricing of risky assets, and strengthening of the United States dollar.
The newspaper says that about 200 investors, companies, and entrepreneurs would have the opportunity to visit The Netherlands to discuss business opportunities.
Slated for September 28 to 30, 2022 this year’s Netherland-Ghana Business fair; is under the theme: “Our Digital Future: Ghana beyond 2022”.
The special guest of honour is the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, who will deliver a keynote address on digitalisation and its prospects for foreign investors, and businesses.
There will be, workshops, matchmaking and visitation to some companies and networking cocktails on various days of the fair.
A statement issued by the organisers in Accra yesterday said “This year’s objective is to bridge the gap between Dutch investors and businesses and Ghanaian businesses as well as provide an opportunity to know more about the changing trends in e-Commerce, digitalisation, data censoring and knowing the latest products and services in the business technology industry.”
The statement said representatives of authorities from both countries would have the opportunity to discuss Netherland-Ghana partnerships, trade and investments.
It said opportunities for business to government and business-to-business and matchings would occur during the period.
The annual event of the Netherlands-Ghana Business Fair will be carried out under the auspices of the AfroEuro Foundation in collaboration with the Embassy of Ghana in the Netherlands, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). Its goal is to create an atmosphere of partnerships and networks for many investors bilaterally and globally from the Netherlands.
Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the last two years’ events were held virtually through an online conference with delegates from Ghana and Netherlands via zoom.
Notwithstanding the challenges, this year’s event will be held again in The Netherlands to host the attendance of participants, stakeholders, and partners.
The event seeks to target Dutch and Ghanaian businessmen and investors who are looking for expansion opportunities, knowledge partners, suppliers and buyers.
The Ghana trade delegation will comprise companies, business leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals and experts from various sectors (Agriculture, Housing and Real Estate Development, Digital (ICT), Water management, Sustainable businesses, Waste management, Made in Ghana goods etc.)
GIK/APA