The government must prioritise efforts to restore macroeconomic stability and regain confidence in the economy, participants at the just ended National Economic Dialogue (NED), have recommended.
A communique issued at the end of the programme last Tuesday and read by the Chairman of the NED 2025, Dr Ishmael Yamson, urged the government to enhance coordination between fiscal and monetary policy operations and achieve alignment.
It said the government must review the foreign exchange retention regime to support economic stability.
“The government should implement major tax reforms that expand the tax net, including property taxes, revise Value Added Tax rate and address revenue leakages,” the communique stated.
The two-day programme was on the theme: ‘Resetting Ghana: Building the Economy We Want Together.’
It was attended by government officials, policy makers, business leaders, Members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic corps, development partners, representatives of banking, finance and insurance organisations, civil society organisations, academic and research experts, women and youth group representatives, clergy, traditional leaders, community representatives, grassroots Ghanaian citizens, and a cross section of the public to discuss measures to foster inclusive economic growth and national development.
The high-level national forum served as a platform to assess the current state of Ghana’s economy, engage key stakeholders in constructive dialogue, and develop actionable solutions to reset the economy for sustainable and inclusive growth.
The dialogue was centred on six thematic areas namely, Macroeconomic Stability: Restoring Confidence in Ghana’s Economy;
Growth with Diversification, Export Competiveness, Productivity, Technology and Human Well-being): Achieving Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Transformation; Private Sector-led Growth: Unlocking the Full Potential of Businesses; Infrastructure Development: Addressing the Deficit for Economic Transformation; Structural and Policy Reforms: Strengthening Key Sector for Growth and Good Governance, Accountability and Anti-Corruption Measures.
It said the Public Financial Management (PFM) system must be overhauled to ensure compliance with the PFM Act, 2016 (Act 921) and reformed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018 (982).
The participants recommended that state-owned-enterprises must be reformed and should go by transparent financial reporting and good corporate governance practices.
The communique further emphasised the need for the government to strengthen expenditure controls in public agencies and resource the internal audit regime to be effective.
“The government must establish a credible medium term expenditure framework that ensures adequate provision of funding for projects before commencement and aggressively pursue inclusive and sustainable growth for economic transformation,” the communique explained.
It said the government must establish new agricultural institutes and enhance existing ones to foster expertise, drive innovation, and stimulate interest in industrialised agricultural production.
The participants called for private sector participation in the distribution of electricity and suggested that the government should conduct a comprehensive review of Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECGs) operations and implement necessary reforms to position it for potential private sector involvement.
Moreover, the communique said the government must strengthen ECG’s billing and collection systems while enforcing cost-cutting measures to improve operational efficiency and service delivery.
It further said the government must finalised the review of Independent Power Purchase contracts and renegotiate terms to lower power purchase costs and enhance financial sustainability.
The communique recommended that COCOBOD must be to its role as an agency under the Ministry of Finance and ensure it focused on its core mandate of ensuring the efficiency of the sector and protecting the interest of farmers.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
