Ghana: Government Needs to Create More Space for Investment - CEO, Dalex Finance

24 September 2022

The Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance, Kenneth Kwamina Thompson, has urged the government to create more space for investment even as the country reels from an economic downturn.

According to him, the impact of the current economic crisis had been devastating on the private sector which if not solved would further slowdown the country's economic recovery process and subsequently exacerbate the country's social issues.

He explained that with interest rates expected to remain high for the foreseeable future, funding for private sector businesses was going to be tough leading to job losses and stunted growth of businesses.

He said, creating space for investment would allow the private sector have some breathing space to be able to grow and expand and consequently quicken the country's recovery rate.

Speaking on JoyNews' PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, he said, "Things are going to be tough, interest rates are going to be high, what we must try and do is to leave some space for investment because suddenly, the headman has no more money to spend. So if there are no projects, think of all the people that work on the projects."

“假设他们正前方的路即使塔灵of your office, think of the number of people that work on the project as day labourers; think of the people that supply fuel; think of the people whose machines are rented; think of the people that sell food to these people; then those people also have children they take to school, they support the health service. So this slowdown of economic activity has a huge impact on the private sector because suddenly there're going to be job losses," he said.

He said it was up to the government to find other ways of raising revenue to reinvest into the economy aside from the IMF loan it was currently negotiating.

Mr Thompson suggested that the government finds ways to collect more taxes and to further cut down on expenditure.

"We've got to find a way to collect more tax. You know I don't mind paying the GRA staff, give them 15 per cent bonus, anything they collect give them 15 per cent, and if people are caught stealing, deal with them. But we have to do different things because we need to create an environment where we can still invest. Because this is a country with a high unemployment rate, we have large numbers of young people, and if we're not able to create employment, if we're not able to keep those people in jobs we have huge social issues. So no matter what, we've got to find a way to get money to invest. But it's going to be tight," he said.

He added, "Let's not think that the IMF is coming to solve our problems. IMF will not solve our problems, they never said they'll solve our problems. But the private sector is weak, the private sector is the one that can create jobs. We need to do something different. We can't afford not to invest in the economy, we can't."

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