President John Dramani Mahama today said his administration had not taken any decision to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as being speculated in some sections of the Ghanaian media.
He added: “I wish to take this opportunity to state that as President of this country, I have not taken a decision on our country to an IMF programme.”
The President explained that what government copied the IMF was the aggregation of policies and measures that had over the years been scattered and therefore could not achieve the government’s desired development goals.
President Mahama said this during the opening ceremony of National Economic Forum on the theme: “Changing the Narrative: Building a National Consensus for economic and social transformation,” at Senchi in the Eastern Region. Click here to read President Mahama’s speech
The objective of the forum is to promote dialogue towards achieving consensus on the policies, strategies and measures that would accelerate the transition of Ghana to a higher and sustainable path of development and improve the lives of Ghanaians.
It would also explore the possibility of institutionalizing a regular consultative machinery to promote dialogue between the public sector and social partners in order to develop national consensus on some of the critical economic policy issues confronting the country.
The three-day forum would work around six main thematic areas of Restoring macroeconomic stability, strengthening the role of the private sector in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth and development.
The rest are; financial markets and long term economic growth, unlocking the potential for long term economic development and developing an effective communication strategy.
It is being attended by economic experts, politicians, public and private sector officials and civil society organisations.
President Mahama said one of the measures government was taking to reduce debts was the separation of self-financing commercial loans from others in order to have effective and informed choices on such loans.
He said the government would also prioritise and finance programmes and projects that were very salient and of prime importance to the nation in order not to spread resources on numerous projects that cannot be completed simultaneously.
President Mahama said the government had also embarked on an exercise to partner the private sector in leveraging the economic fortunes of the country in the coming years.
He said the government was already supporting the poultry industry and pharmaceutical companies and would continue to partner others to ensure maximum job creation and socio- economic and infrastructural development.
“Days of sole proprietorship and sole Director’s companies are over… In this 21st century we are working towards how creative and innovative ideas could transform our economies, “he said.
He said Ghanaian Private sector should be ready to take risk and must be bold in their decisions to surmount the economic challenges of the land.
Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah- Arthur commended the planning committee for organising the forum in a very short period of time.
He called on participants to be open and frank in making inputs to help the government to have and take informed decisions based on the outcome of the forum.
Source: GNA
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