“No More Fiscal Deficits Over 5%” – Nana Addo

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the days of high public debts, high fiscal deficits, high interest rates, rapidly depreciating currency, erratic power supply, will not be a feature of his government

According to President Akufo-Addo, his Government is determined to continue down the road of fiscal discipline, that has seen a marked improvement and strengthening of the country’s macroeconomy in the last two years.

“Indeed, we will, in this meeting of Parliament, legislate a fiscal rule that will outlaw any attempt by Government to generate a fiscal deficit in excess of 5%, in any given year,” he said.

The President continued, “I intend also to establish, shortly, a Presidential Fiscal Advisory Council, composed of reputable economists, which will monitor the performance of fiscal management policy, and advice the President on appropriate measures to be taken to ensure fiscal discipline.”

President Akufo-Addo was speaking at the 7th Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Ghana Industry Awards, on Saturday, 9th December, 2018, when he made this known.

Addressing the gathering, made of business leaders sand captains of industry, the President noted that even though the latest World Bank Index of Doing Business has seen a significant improvement in Ghana’s position, there is still a lot of work to be done to meet the goal of Ghana disposing of the most business friendly environment in Africa, and, indeed, of the world.

“The AGI and Government should work hand-in-hand to improve the business environment, and achieve this goal. I would also urge our domestic businesses and industries to aspire towards meeting quality standards for their products and services, in order to be able to integrate easily into global markets,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo also called on all private sector players to demonstrate their commitment to contributing their quota to the transformation of the Ghanaian economy.

“Creating wealth and prosperity for the majority of our people is a shared responsibility. My government is a listening one, and I encourage stakeholders to utilise the public-private dialogue platforms, soon to be institutionalised by Government, to address issues of mutual concern in achieving the economic and industrial transformation of our country,” he added.