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A former Minister of Finance in the JA Kufuor administration, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, has called on the government to defer the full implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) as part of measures to reduce Ghana�s budget deficit, which stands at about 11 per cent. The former minister said this Tuesday when he took his turn to speak at the Graphic Business-Fidelity Bank Economic Dialogue series held at the Alisa Hotel in Accra. �The fundamentals of our economy are not sound,� Dr Osei said, making reference to the ballooning budget deficit, double digit inflation and Ghana�s current account balance. He said the challenge facing the economy is typified by the Ghana Statistical Service�s downward revision of the 2014 projected growth rate from 7.4 per cent to less than 6 per cent. Dr Osei, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, advised the government to draw up a new budget because, according to him, the current one does not sufficiently address the deficit. He said in light of the depreciation of the cedi and challenges facing the services sector of the economy, the government will continue to have revenue challenges. Plus, he said, the mining sector was so challenged that workers were being laid off, adding that the oil sector had had its fair share of challenges. Dr Osei said the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) had already announced a 16 per cent decline in revenue projections. In order to stabilise the economy, the former Finance Minister emphasised the need for the government to reduce the Gh₵9 billion wage bill, which he said was not sustainable. �Let�s defer full implementation of single spine�, he said, urging the government to negotiate arrears on SSSS with labour unions. Dr Osei also urged government to admit to labour that it cannot make a one-time payment of about Gh₵2 billion in arrears and allowances related to the SSSS. He said the government should negotiate a long-term payment method instead. Dr Osei also called on the government to begin immediate retrenchment in the public sector in order to reduce the wage bill. The measure, he said, is inevitable if the economic fundamentals of the country are to be improved. He said as a first step, the government should consider the possibility of undertaking 20 per cent retrenchment in all ministries. However, a panellist on the programme, Mr Moses Asaga rejected what he said was Dr Osei�s gloomy picture of the economy. According to Mr Asaga, who is the Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), the current budget deficit exists because of the huge investments the government had made in infrastructure in the country. Mr Asaga, a former Finance Minister himself, said huge sums of money had been invested in roads, water, sanitation and education facilities across the country. He said the money had also financed a rural electrification project, which together with the aforementioned projects, had made life better for many Ghanaians. He dismissed claims of stagnation in the economy, saying there had been growth in critical sectors, including banking, aviation and oil and gas. �Every bank in Ghana this year recorded profitability,� he said, adding: �It�s a measure of a growing economy.� He said contrary to Dr Osei Akoto�s claim, the oil and gas sector had also attracted billions of dollars in investment. On the huge wage bill, Mr Asaga said the problem could be partly blamed on the Kufuor administration which partially implemented the SSSS. Earlier the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper had assured Ghanaians that economic challenges facing the country were temporary. He said government was aware of the threat the budget deficit posed to the economy and was taking steps to manage it. Mr Terkper also emphasised government�s commitment to engaging with stakeholders in resolving the challenges that have plagued the implementation of the SSSS. He said most of the issues that have come up are already being addressed by the government. The CEO of Fidelity Bank, key sponsor of the programme, Mr John Addo, called for tourism in the country to be boosted as part of overall efforts to improve the economy. He said tourism had the potential to provide the country with much-needed revenue at a time that other sectors of the economy were challenged. �Let�s start thinking seriously about it,� he said. For his part, the MD of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ken Ashigeby, called on local industries to lead the way in transforming the national economy. He said that was why GCGL collaborated with Fidelity Bank, an indigenous company, to organise an economic dialogue series with the view to empowering Ghanaian intellectuals to brainstorm and share ideas on the way forward for the country. He said unlike foreign investors in the Ghanaian economy who can relocate in fairer environments, indigenous businesses have have no choice but to stay and strive on whether conditions are good or bad. The programme was chaired by Mr Kwame Pianim, a highly-esteemed economist. More soon.