<<Print>>

Vice President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur on Thursday anticipated prospects for the growth of the economy and called for sustenance of efforts towards macroeconomic stability. He also suggested the need for the country to diversify from agrarian and weak industrial economy to create more employment and reduce poverty. The Vice President gave the suggestion at a business luncheon during the 53rd annual general meeting of Ghana Employers Association (GEA), in Accra. He expressed the need for political and economic stability to facilitate accelerated economic growth and development. The Vice President noted that there were increases in the nation�s economic indicators in 2011 and a decline in 2012, as result of election year challenges. He said the potential for the growth of the economy was affected by fiscal challenges, hence the need for early restoration of fiscal balance, coupled with the need to raise tariffs. Vice President Amissah-Arthur however observed that increase in tariffs leads to higher costs. He said there would be a leverage of labour by the oil and gas sector released from the agricultural and industrial sectors. Vice President Amissah-Arthur said the stability started at the beginning of 2013 had not proceeded at the expected pace. He said the open-ended and long standing nature of the just ended Supreme Court case on the 2012 election petition led to uncertainties in investor confidence. Another factor that affected the flow of business was the energy crisis. The Vice President said policies put in place by the Government are paying off with rebound of the economic indicators in the second quarter of the year. He reiterated the need for private public partnership in the development of social infrastructure. Mr Terence Darko, President of the GEA, noted that the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure had been fraught with challenges, resulting in many strikes and unrests by workers in the public sector. He noted that about 65 per cent of the national revenue is being spent on personnel emoluments, which seriously affect Government�s ability to allocate funds to the development of social infrastructure. Mr Darko suggested that expenditure on personnel emolument should be subjected to the overall budgetary constraints of the Government; as well as a periodic meeting of the Executive and organised labour to review the implications of the policy.