2ND " MEET-THE PRESS" SERIES

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr.. John Abu, has said though the country's trade liberalisation policy has led to an upsurge in imports, a research by the Ministry has shown that the level of imports is not as alarming as claimed by the public. For example , in 1996, imports grew by five point seven per cent and it is projected to grow by four per cent this year. Dr.. Abu made this known at the third in the series of the Meet the Press Programme in Accra today. According to him, the worsening trade balance observed during this period as a result of the increases in imports has come about not because of the import liberalisation, but by what he described as policy mis-alignment which allowed import liberalisation to precede export promotion. Dr.. Abu said the solution to the problem is not to reverse the situation, but to take appropriate policy action to address the unintended effects of the liberalisation process. He assured the public that the government has already taken some measures to address the issue.