Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Green Economy
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Aviation
    • Banking & Finance
    • Companies
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Fisheries and Aquaculture
    • Health
    • Insurance
    • Features
  • Opinions
    • Dr. Maxwell Ampong
    • Alberta Quarcoopome
    • Nana Yaa Ofori-Atta
  • Reports
  • BFT TV
  • Events
    • Ghana Economic Forum
    • African Energy Conference
    • The Money Summit
    • Youth Economic Forum
  • Subscribe
  • Sign In
Search
Monday, June 23, 2025
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Create an account
Privacy Policy
Create an account
Welcome! Register for an account
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
The Business & Financial Times
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Green Economy
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Aviation
    • Banking & Finance
    • Companies
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Fisheries and Aquaculture
    • Health
    • Insurance
    • Features
  • Opinions
    • Dr. Maxwell Ampong
    • Alberta Quarcoopome
    • Nana Yaa Ofori-Atta
  • Reports
  • BFT TV
  • Events
    • Ghana Economic Forum
    • African Energy Conference
    • The Money Summit
    • Youth Economic Forum
  • Subscribe
  • Sign In
Home Economy Redirect interest cost savings into productive programmes – ISSER  
  • Economy
  • Editors' picks
  • Headlines
  • News
  • Top Headlines

Redirect interest cost savings into productive programmes – ISSER  

December 7, 2022
0
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
Email
Print

    Since the proposed debt exchange programme will allow government to save a portion of the budgeted interest costs for 2023, these funds must be redirected to productive programmes, Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey, has said.

    Government has requested that holders of domestic debt voluntarily swap around GH¢137billion of the domestic notes and bonds of the Republic under its Ghana Domestic Debt Exchange Programme for new instruments on a different term agreement.

    Once concluded, this will provide government with some breathing room in its budget as it plans to reduce domestic interest costs, which are projected to be GH¢31.29billion in 2023 out of a total of GH¢52.55billion.

    At a post-2023 budget meeting, Professor Quartey said: “With this, our debts are going to come down once they make those savings. Therefore, the interest payments can be channelled into some of the programmes that have been outlined in the budget.

    “For instance, you’ve seen some funds earmarked toward agriculture; but when you look at the 2023 budget, we’re going to spend so much at about GH¢18billion on the education sector – less than agriculture and industry. So going by what I see, quite a good proportion will go into education; but also some will go into other critical sectors.”

    He further noted that economic growth will be impacted by the lack of capital investment among other factors.

    “Growth is not going to be as high as we’ve been witnessing, because it takes investment to grow. In the past we have relied on external sources and foreign capital to invest in infrastructure for capital expenditure. Unfortunately, that avenue is virtually closed to us for a while; and therefore we are only going to spend 1.8 percent of our GDP on investments. So, growth is going to stifle,” he said.

    “But having said that, if we are able to sign onto an IMF programme and we get on track, I believe there’ll be other donors who come on board as well as some bilateral partners and we can revise some of these figures in investment and manufacturing,” he stated.

    Focus on agriculture

    The Director called for a special focus on agriculture as the sector remained resilient during major shocks like COVID-19.

    “Although these numbers are not very impressive when compared with the other sectors, we note here that the sector was very resilient during major shocks like COVID-19. Moving forward, attention should be paid to processing and food storage infrastructure to ensure food security,” he said.

    Primarily, the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative – which started in 2017 to provide subsidised inputs to farmers – continues to be a conduit for growing the agricultural sector. In 2023, the agricultural sector is projected to grow by 2.6 percent as against 0.7 percent in 2022.

    Post Views: 27
    VIA By Joshua Worlasi AMLANU [email protected]
    SOURCEthebftonline.com
    • TAGS
    • Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER)
    • interest cost savings
    Facebook
    Twitter
    WhatsApp
    Email
    Print
      Previous articleCedi rallies on debt exchange announcement
      Next articleJospong Group of Companies begins 2022 thanksgiving service
      Juliet Etefe

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      Business

      Syndicated financing key to bridging infrastructure gap – GSE MD

      Business

      Seizing the lion’s share of US$2.75bn global shea butter market – the Nuts for Growth way

      Editors' picks

      B&FT collaborates with Buz Stop Boys to clean 37 Hospital, ahead of ESS 2025

      LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

      Log in to leave a comment

      Read Today's E-Paper










      Recent Posts

      NTHC holds 44th AGM; board expresses confidence in fund’s outlook

      Recipes with Dainess Chef’s School: Pavlova

      Get textbooks into the schools now – IFEST

      AMERI deal runs out on Sunday, is gov’t ready to take over?

      Emirates covers customers from COVID-19 expenses, in industry-leading initiative to boost travel confidence

      Most Popular

      Syndicated financing key to bridging infrastructure gap – GSE MD

      By Joshua Worlasi AMLANU & Ebenezer Chike Adjei NJOKU The Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Abena Amoah, has underscored the need...

      Seizing the lion’s share of US$2.75bn global shea butter market – the Nuts for Growth...

      By Samuel OWUSU-ADUOMI Over 300 exhibitors from across the horticulture value chain gathered at the Accra International Conference Centre from 11–13 June 2025 for...

      B&FT collaborates with Buz Stop Boys to clean 37 Hospital, ahead of ESS 2025

      By Kingsley Webora TANKEH The Business and Financial Times (B&FT) has collaborated with the Buz Stop Boys and the 2004 year group of the...

      Protecting health and boosting productivity: An urgent call for excise tax on ultra-processed foods

      By Labram M. MUSAH Ghana is confronting an escalating public health emergency driven by the widespread consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs). These industrially manufactured products are...

      Appolonia City provides hot meals for BECE candidates in major CSR initiative

      In a remarkable show of corporate social responsibility, Appolonia City and King City, as part of their annual Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E.)  school...

      About Us

      • About B&FT
      • Contact Us
      • FAQ
      • Webmail

      Legal & Privacy

      • Term & Conditions
      • Privacy Policy
      • Copyright
      • Cookies

      Services & Tools

      • Today's E-Paper
      • Individual Subscriptions
      • Group Subscriptions
      • Advertise
      • Android App
      © The Business & Financial Times. Copyright 2025. All rights reserved.
      MORE STORIES
      Business

      Syndicated financing key to bridging infrastructure gap – GSE MD