President John Dramani Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has ruled out an immediate return to the international capital market, insisting that his administration is committed to consolidating recent economic gains through prudent fiscal management.
Speaking at a media encounter at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, September 10, the President said the government’s economic reforms have begun yielding positive results without recourse to foreign borrowing.
“We’re quite happy with the outcomes of the reforms that we have been implementing in the economy. And we have survived without going to the capital market. We’ve survived without borrowing. Who could have thought some years ago that Ghana’s economy could be run without going to the external market to borrow, and yet, we’ve survived,” he stated.
President Mahama stressed that the key to the turnaround has been discipline in government spending and a deliberate focus on priority areas of the economy.
“All we have done is to reorder our expenditure and push funds to areas of our priority. Fiscal discipline, not expending money on wasteful political interventions, is already showing success in the market,” he explained.
The President highlighted improvements in the nation’s fiscal position, saying that the country has moved from a primary balance deficit of 3.4 percent to a surplus of 1.1 percent.
He expressed confidence that the government would exceed its 1.5 percent target by the end of the year.
“For me as President, I will not favour a quick return to the international capital market. I think we should go like this for a while and consolidate the economy before we look at external financing,” he added.
President Mahama reiterated that his administration would continue to pursue policies that strengthen the domestic economy while reducing dependence on external borrowing.
By Ernest Kofi Adu