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The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, has stated that the deal reached between Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will place the government in a better position to manage the national economy to achieve the necessary growth.

He said the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) given to Ghana, coupled with a good balance of payment, would stabilise the economy and tame inflation for economic growth to resume.

Speaking at the launch of the Ghana-Netherlands Business and Culture Council (GNBCC) in Accra yesterday, Mr Amissah-Arthur said the fall in gold and cocoa prices and the recent drop in oil prices had consequences for fiscal imbalances in the economy.

The Vice President and  the acting Ambassador of The Netherlands to Ghana, Ms Caecila Wijgers, jointly launched a book titled  “Doing Business in Ghana.” 

IMF programme

Under the programme, the Vice-President stated that the government was going to restrain the growth of public expenditure through wages.

That, he added, would be done through proper capital expenditure, while others would be achieved through public-private partnership arrangement to set the grounds for the prioritisation of the expenditure programme that would seek to safeguard social expenditure.

Mr Amissah-Arthur underscored the need to improve tax collection to raise more revenue for development.

“We want to strengthen our monetary policy and the significant part of this agreement is to limit how government’s deficit is financed by the Central Bank as part of efforts to reduce interest rate,” he said.

Book launch  

The Vice-President urged the GNBCC to not depart from the business of a chamber and commerce but continue to pursue the path on which it started.

Mr Amissah-Arthur expressed the hope that the book would help to formulate and change policy in conformity with world business trends and also help businesses in the country to refine their policies to make them more attractive to investors around the world.

Acting Ambassador

Earlier, Ms Wijgers said that the GNBCC was consistent with the embassy’s perspective, which sees Ghana as a hub for Netherlands business in the sub-region.

She observed that the private sector was key to the survival of businesses, particularly in the current economic challenges.

“We are here to help the private sector develop and do business and at the same time open opportunities for The Netherlands and Ghanaian businesses,” she said.