Prof. Adow-Obeng
Reverend Professor Emmanuel Adow-Obeng, President of the Presbyterian University College, Ghana (PUCG), has indicated that the current government’s ‘disciplined and innovative economic policies’ are yielding good results.
He mentioned that figures available indicated that the economy grew from 3.6% in 2016 to 7.9% in 2017 and there is more good news to come.
He said inflation had seen a downward trend since 2017 “and there is a spectacular revival from a growth rate of negative 0.5% in 2016 to 17.7% in 2017.”
Speaking at this year’s Convocation Lectures organized by the Takoradi Technical University, Professor Adow-Obeng said the country was also witnessing a downward trend in interest rates and that the cedi was being stabilized, while the fiscal deficit had also declined from 9.3% in 2016 to 5.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2017.
“The government, to a very large extent, has succeeded in restoring fiscal discipline and fiscal consolidation,” he said.
He mentioned that for the first time since 2006, the government had been able to meet its fiscal deficit target, saying it should be encouraged to continue to manage the economy in a disciplined and on a sound framework to maintain fiscal and debt sustainability.
Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda
The PUCG President explained that the government’s ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda was seen as a national transformation agenda that envisioned the mindset and behavioural changes that Ghanaians were to be committed to.
“It calls for transforming Ghana’s economy, which is now based mainly on the production and exports of raw materials, to one based on manufacturing and high-value services. To move Ghana beyond aid, the government is putting in place mechanisms that will change the structure of the Ghanaian economy and also change the attitude of Ghanaians,” he added.
Strong Macro-Economy
“The government is travelling on the path towards a prosperous future with the concrete steps it is taking to restore macro-economic stability and economic growth,” he noted.
He said that Ghana does not stand the chance of becoming a developed country if “we continue to depend heavily on the benevolence of other developed countries for our developmental agenda.”
Prof. Adow-Obeng delivered the lecture under the theme: “Ghana’s Future and Economic Growth: The Role of Technical Universities.”
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi