Govt’s call to Ghanaians to sacrifice wasn’t strong – Adei

The call made to Ghanaians by the government to make sacrifices in order to bring back the economy was not strong, a Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Pubic Administration (GIMPA) Professor Stephen Adei has said.

He indicated that the government should have demonstrated the measures introduced to deal with the economic situation will be a bit harsher.

“The call on Ghanaians to sacrifice should have been stronger and the government should have demonstrated that these are a little bit harsh measures they are going to do in order to show that the sacrifice is bold,” he told TV3’s Paa Kwesi Asare in an interview on Monday October 31

President Akufo-Addo on Sunday October 30 announced key decisions that have been taken by his government to resolve the economic challenges facing Ghanaians.

Delivering an address to the nation he said “The following actions have been taken thus far: 1) enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules.”

“Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the sector,” he said.

The other measures are “Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand;

“The Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in;

“Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana

“The Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.”

Mr Akufo-Addo further assured Ghanaians that his government cares about them hence, is working hard to ameliorate the hardships they are going through presently.

He says the government is determined to restore economic stability.

He said “It is obvious, fellow Ghanaians, that you have a government that cares. We are determined to restore stability to the economy, and provide relief.

“We are all in this together, and I am asking for your support to rescue Ghana from the throes of this economic crisis.”

He further referred to a number of initiatives the government introduced to support Ghanaians

He said “No guarantor is now required to obtain student loans. The Ghanacard is sufficient; and we have implemented free TVET as well as free senior high school education.

“We expanded School Feeding from 1.6 million children to 2.1 million children; we restored teacher and nursing training allowances; we absorbed the cost of BECE and WASSCE exam registrations for parents;

“It is for this reason that over the first five (5) years in office government reduced electricity tariffs cumulatively by 10.9%, we provided free water and electricity as well as reduced tariffs for the entire population during a whole year of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He stressed “My government has always been cognisant of the importance of implementing policies and social interventions to relieve Ghanaians of hardships.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana