Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has said Ghana must produce more goods locally and process its raw materials to address the shortage of decent jobs and improve living conditions.

Speaking at the University for Development Studies, Nyankpala Campus, he identified the country’s reliance on raw material exports and finished goods imports as a key weakness the government’s New Economy agenda seeks to address.

“We have grown, but not transformed enough. We have exported too much in raw form and imported too much in finished form,” he said.

Dr Forson said economic growth alone had failed to create enough employment opportunities, particularly for young people entering the job market.

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“We have trained young people, but the economy has not created enough decent jobs to absorb their energy and talent,” he stated.

He said the New Economy agenda would focus on strengthening domestic production and adding value to agricultural and mineral resources.

The aim, he said, was to create jobs locally and ensure that economic progress improved household living standards.

“It is about building an economy that produces more of what we consume. It is about adding value to what we grow and what we mine,” he said.

The minister also said Ghana needed to address the structural weaknesses that repeatedly pushed the economy into financial difficulties.

“We have celebrated stability, only to return later to pressure, debt, inflation and adjustment,” he noted.

Dr Forson said local production and job creation were central to the government’s proposed economic transformation, stressing that economic stability must translate into tangible improvements in people’s daily lives.

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“It is about creating jobs here at home. It is about making sure that stability shows up in people’s lives,” he said.

DR/MA

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