REVIVING HOPE IN THE ECONOMY (OCT 8)

THE failure of the regulatory mechanisms in the advanced economies has caused major ripples in the corridors of businesses all over the world.
In the case of Ghana, the economy has faced major challenges since 2007 when the economic gains made over the years began to show signs of erosion.
Hit by the economic challenges, the structures put in place to sustain the economy could not stand the shocks, resulting in rising cost of doing business and high cost of living in the country.
Presently, the rate of inflation is still high, although it has been falling for some time now, interest rates are high, while the cedi has fallen against the major currencies.
The threats posed by the global economic challenges have thrown out of gear the calculated attempts by our governments to attain a single-digit inflation, bring interest rates down and make our currency more competitive on the foreign exchange market.
The Mills-led administration has already put in place measures to arrest the economic decline in order to accelerate economic growth.
In the government’s budget statement and fiscal policy for 2009 and its mid-year review, the government outlined many policy interventions to halt the malaise that has afflicted the national economy.
We need to remind our compatriots that it is not going to be easy to fix the economy after the near collapse of the fundamentals, leading to uncontrolled government expenditure and borrowing from the banks, thereby crowding out the private sector.
It is for this reason that we welcome Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur to the saddle as the new Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Having worked at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in the past as a Deputy Minister, the new governor should be very familiar with the challenges facing the national economy.
The DAILY GRAPHIC shares in the sentiments of President J.E.A. Mills when he charged the new governor on Tuesday to “lead the central bank to introduce innovative and prudent fiscal policies that will help address the current challenges facing the economy and also absorb unpredictable shocks on the international market”.
We have always been commended by renowned economists all over the world for doing our best to revive the economy, although the gains are yet to translate into better living standards for the people.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls for a stimulus package that will lead to a further fall in inflation, a drop in interest rates and the competitiveness of the cedi against the major currencies.
Under the present circumstances, businesses are suffocating under the high interest and inflationary rates because it has become more expensive to access credit from the banks.
Even though we do not think a deliberate influence of the market forces is the way to go, the present challenges require that well thought-out policies are put in place to stimulate the engine of growth.
The DAILY GRAPHIC congratulates Mr Amissah-Arthur on his appointment and wish him a successful tenure. May his tenure witness an economic boom and better living conditions in the country.