Chief Executive Officer of the Business & Financial Times, Dr Godwin Acquaye, has said the current economic dispensation requires that government employ pragmatic measures to create an enabling environment to encourage import substitution.
This, he said, is crucial in the quest to reduce high levels of importation and its implications on the economy. He is confident investment in the import substitution industry will also reduce the country’s increasing unemployment figures.
He made this remark at the B&FT’s 2023 Money Summit which seeks to enhance investor confidence and bring together actors in the financial sector to provide solutions that will or can anchor investor confidence in the economy as well as ease the hardship and challenges of businesses and the average Ghanaian.
“Our exchange rate volatility is contributing largely to the uncertainty and lack of confidence in the economy. This we all know is mainly systemic, as our imports far outweigh our exports. With the high depreciation of the cedi, some Ghanaians have changed their taste for foreign goods.
This is an opportunity for the government to create that enabling environment for the creation of import substitution industries to reduce our high levels of importation,” he said.
The 2022-2023 financial year has been challenging with inflation hovering around 45 per cent and commercial bank lending rate above 35 per cent, leading to a debt exchange programme which is greatly affecting banks and businesses.
Mr Acquaye reechoed that: “The financial sector is key to the growth of the economy. It is capable of efficiently allocating resources, assessing and managing financial risks. Globally, the financial sector is going through challenges and we are all feeling its pinch in our pockets and budgets.”
