Businesses worse off under IMF bailout

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• Dr Robert K Glah 8 years ago

  Premature judgement on IMF.
  Consolidation of the fisc over three years. Opportunity for industry to promote the industrial Revolution.
  That is the IMF plan and the goal.

  Premature judgement on IMF.
  Consolidation of the fisc over three years. Opportunity for industry to promote the industrial Revolution.
  That is the IMF plan and the goal.

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• United Ghana 8 years ago

  Premature, arguably, but, it's not got off to a good start. All the indicators aren't looking good & the govt is still borrowing for recurrent expenditure. Budget deficit slightly down but arrears have risen to allow that.

  Premature, arguably, but, it's not got off to a good start. All the indicators aren't looking good & the govt is still borrowing for recurrent expenditure. Budget deficit slightly down but arrears have risen to allow that.

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• United Ghana 8 years ago

  Mr Bonsu, so you don't know why the govt is touting its achievements when nothing has improved? Mr Bonsu, to put it simply, they are bare-faced liars.

  Mr Bonsu, so you don't know why the govt is touting its achievements when nothing has improved? Mr Bonsu, to put it simply, they are bare-faced liars.

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• KOFFI 8 years ago

  Voodoo economist. The morning shows how bright the day would be.

  Voodoo economist. The morning shows how bright the day would be.

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• Alhassan 8 years ago

  This Dr. Sam Ankrah seems to be a genius,his latest pronouncements on the economy and general happenings are very spot on, devoid of any politics. We need more of such expert brains in the country.

  This Dr. Sam Ankrah seems to be a genius,his latest pronouncements on the economy and general happenings are very spot on, devoid of any politics. We need more of such expert brains in the country.

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• KOO 8 years ago

  The cause of why things are not improving is what IMF must look into.The fact of the matter is that they are being fed with cooked up figures making all look healthy.If medicine is being administered but the patient keep gett ...
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  The cause of why things are not improving is what IMF must look into.The fact of the matter is that they are being fed with cooked up figures making all look healthy.If medicine is being administered but the patient keep getting sick then something is seriously wrong.Mr Gatsi can say that it is a three year program,Ghanaians will like to see some stability and cannot wait till the end of the program.

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• Odartey 8 years ago

  Premature judgement!!! Industrial revolution! Really !!! Where is the power? This guy seems to be living in space not here in Ghana with us.

  Premature judgement!!! Industrial revolution! Really !!! Where is the power? This guy seems to be living in space not here in Ghana with us.

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• ABU IDDRISU . DABOYA 8 years ago

  "Your concern with developing the land should be greater than your concern for collecting taxes; for the latter can be obtained by developing; where as he who seeks revenue without development destroys the country and it's pe ...
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  "Your concern with developing the land should be greater than your concern for collecting taxes; for the latter can be obtained by developing; where as he who seeks revenue without development destroys the country and it's people". SAYS IMAM ALI IBN ABU TALIB.
  The ndc govt has over burdened the manufacturing sector and businesses which ultimately affects grow. Ghanaians have been taxed too much and the revenue from such taxes are been used judiciously.Govt is engaging in sole sourcing which is equivalent to providing a monopoly.We are hence loosing huge sums of money because govt is paying thrice the real cost of projects; an example is the kumasi airport where govt reportedly spent $29 Million to rehabilitate where as Ethiopia is spending less the amount to build new international airports.
  Our bane is corruption which imf should pressurize govt to fight or else all these interventions and bailouts would come to naught.

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• edy 8 years ago

  Fhanaians like complaining too much,do you think is only Ghana that currency has depreciated so much,is all over Africa, please, come up with ideas and stop complaining

  Fhanaians like complaining too much,do you think is only Ghana that currency has depreciated so much,is all over Africa, please, come up with ideas and stop complaining

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• Obiri 8 years ago

  OUR EXPERTS ARE ALWAYS LETTING US DOWN
  
  
  Recently, I witnessed in dismay a tirade by a white man in the first class cabin of a mid-size airplane, admonishing another first class passenger, a Ghanaian male, for “begging� ...
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  OUR EXPERTS ARE ALWAYS LETTING US DOWN
  
  
  Recently, I witnessed in dismay a tirade by a white man in the first class cabin of a mid-size airplane, admonishing another first class passenger, a Ghanaian male, for “begging” for his seat. What is wrong with you Africans? All you do is beg, beg, beg for everything!! You can beg all you want; I am not going to give you my seat. Tempers finally cooled down, and the aircraft took off. Unfortunately, I was sitting next to this white man who, a few minutes ago, had insulted my whole race. With nothing else to do, I turned and asked him “what was all that about”? Apparently, the Ghanaian man was travelling with his “wife”; they had been seated in 1st class on separate rows, and apart. The man had asked this white man to exchange his seat, so the couple could be close. The white man had refused, but the Ghanaian man had persisted with numerous “I beg you”; which eventually took the white man to his boiling point. “So what would it have cost you to exchange your seat?” I asked. His response, the essence of this article was this.
  
  “I booked my flight the last minute, and got the last 1st class seat available, this one. This means it was also available to this man, if only he had asked to be seated close to his wife. He did not, but now comes “begging” for what WAS DUE HIM in the first place.” “That still shouldn't get your collar up”, I said. “You may be right; unfortunately, I have just finished a month long negotiations with your Ministers and Government officials over your god given mineral rights, and what my gold mining company should pay.
  
  I come to your country, see all this poverty everywhere, with wealth right under your feet. Your own government gives only foreign companies the rights and privileges to rape and steal your country blind. For a few thousand dollars, your government officials allow these foreign companies to walk away with: (a) Perpetual tax holidays, (b) Duty free imports, (c) Bloated capital and operational investment costs,
  
  (d) under-declared mineral output, (e) minimum wages for local employees doing all the work, but FAT salaries and expense accounts for foreigners who do almost nothing; (f) exaggerated cost of shoddy school blocks and boreholes instead of meaningful royalty to local land owners and communities;
  
  (g) destruction of local farm lands with pitiful resettlement payments; (h) pollution of local drinking water; (i) destruction of local infrastructure, etc.
  
  My bosses had counseled me at a briefing before my departure. I was asked to read your Osageyefo's “Neo-Colonialism”. Then I was told: “be prepared, and the first, to offer the negotiating team, (a) a few thousand dollars each; (b) a center, or a 6-room school block, or a few bore holes for the community; and there will be no mention of the usual above 10% royalties, or an actual government oversight of our operations, or adequate resettlement compensations, etc.”
  
  I did not believe my bosses since I, a mere high school graduate, was coming to deal with officials with Masters and Doctorate degrees. Imagine my shock and disappointment when these officials, instead of demanding what is INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTABLE COMPENSATIONS AND ROYALTIES for their country and communities, only accepted the 3% royalties, and with ALL KINDS OF GIVEAWAYS, and then came to me later BEGGING me to deposit “something” in their foreign accounts (numbers written on pieces of paper). I do not want to hear the phrase “I beg you” again.
  
  The irony here is that these so called Educated people, after negotiating away the countries wealth, and depositing their “something”s into foreign banks, turn round to go and BORROW their own money from the IMF, World Bank, or “Donor” countries/ “Development Partners”. Do you remember the number of PhD beneficiaries, and the destinations of the Mabey & Johnson kickbacks? It amazes me that your intelligentsia, Ministers and Presidents, who have studied, or have travelled oversea, still don't get the idea that “THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH”. THERE ARE NO “DONOR COUNTRIES” OR “DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS”. THE FOREIGN MINING COMPANIES TAKE YOUR MINERALS FOR NEXT TO NOTHING, DEPOSIT THEIR HAUL INTO THEIR BANKS, AND THEN TURN ROUND TO LOAN THE SAME TO OUR GOVERNMENTS, AGAIN WITH REDICULOUS CONDITIONS.SUCH AS “NO SUBSIDIZED” BASIC EDUCATION.
  
  
  
  
  Surely, companies like Anglogold and Newmont are contributing to our economy, I offered.
  
  “At what price? Have you been to Obuasi recently to see the devastation and destruction of once a beautiful city? Newmont has over 740 sq. km concession in Ahafo; what did the Ahafo's get in return for Newmont's ANNUAL revenues of over $750,000,000? Almost NOTHING!!
  
  This is exactly what your first President was talking about in “Neo-Colonialism“. Have you read that book? He asked me. I was ashamed to answer “No”. “I don't blame you; none of your “Educated” officials at the negotiating table had read it. That book ought to be a must-read textbook in your schools and colleges, so that you can understand how foreign companies and governments strive to rob you blind, just as before. Only this time, their methods are cloaked in one-sided “agreements” with the connivance of your “Educated” Managing Directors, Ministers, and Presidents. “How can you accuse our officials of complicity?” I asked defensively. Has your media asked why the MD's of the Ghana Chamber of mines keep defending the mining companies, or how a Ghanaian, working for a Ghanaian/British joint company in Ghana earned the “Order of the British Empire (Sir)”? Can you imagine these foreign companies, under the watchful eyes of your govt. officials, paying the indigene 5 pesewa (GhC 0.05) ground rent for their acre of concessional land after they have hauled away GhC 1,000,000 from the same acre?
  
  THE BIG COMPANIES, NEWMONT AND ANGLOGOLD ARE NOT EVEN ASHAMED TO CONNIVE WITH YOUR GOVT OFFICIALS TO SIDESTEP PAYING THE INCREASED 5% ROYALTY. THEY ARE PAYING THE 5% BASED ON ANCIENT GOLD PRICE OF $300.00/OZ INSTEAD OF THE CURRENT WORLDWIDE PRICE OF $1500.00/OZ., SHORTCHANGING YOUR PEOPLE $75,000,000 in the process. Unfortunately, your negotiating officials are happy to giggle to the foreign banks with their thousands, accompanied in some cases by “Dr”s and “Sir”s.
  
  
  Even the Chinese are getting in on the act, albeit ILLEGALLY. They are threatening communities with guns and firepower, AND YOUR MILITARY LOOKS ON UNCONCERNED. Your media is just as bad. With buffet lunches or dinners and a few Cedis in their pockets, your print media become the propaganda machines of these mining companies. They tout the few boreholes and the 6-room schools, but leave out the callous treatment of local employees and residents, and the destruction of the environment. The airwaves are SILENT on all this. WACAM IS THE LONE VOICE FOR THE PEOPLE. Why don't your media SUPPORT WACAM by broadcasting and educating the masses, especially the officials that (a) THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT APPROVE OF FOREIGN COMPANIES ROBBING THE INDEGENES FULL BENEFITS OF THEIR GOD GIVEN MINERAL AND OIL DEPOSITS. (b) Before Rawlings, foreign mining companies in Ghana could not hold more than 40% interest in their partnership with the government; now the Ghana govt. holds ZERO percent, while they hold 100%,; and therefore do not account to any authority.
  
  A 50% annual return on investment (ROI) for the first 7 years, is generally considered EXCELLENT. Foreign mining/ oil companies in Ghana and the rest of Africa, are PERPETUALLY hauling away over 400% return on their investments, without any regard to the plight of the indigenes.
  
  I feigned sleep, so he stopped talking. I was actually reflecting on all that he had said. I realized that YES, we had become too “give me, give me”; “I beg”, “I beg you”; “My Christmas box”; “Give us something for water”.
  
  I am reminded by this my brother's analogy. His cat will “meow” for some food, usually crumbs, in his bowl outside. The bowl of food will attract the resident mice. One would think the cat would opt for the juicy mice, NOO. He would lay there and watch the mouse eat all his food, and then come back “Meowing” for more crumbs.
  
  WE WATCH OUR OFFICIALS GIVE AWAY OUR GOLD, OIL, BAUXITE, DIAMOND, ETC FOR THEIR MEAGRE KICKBACKS, WHILE WE WALLOW IN POVERTY. IT IS TIME WE WAKE UP FROM OUR SLUMBER, AND TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS AT THE NEGOTIATING TABLE. AT THAT TIME, WE CAN TELL OBAMA AND CAMERON TO TAKE BACK THEIR GAYS AND AID.

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• Mr. Smith 8 years ago

  Obiri, I agree with this obroni. The idiot & his wife should have insisted on being together at the airline counter, and not on board the aircraft. The airline staff at the counter are married people, and therefore know that ...
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  Obiri, I agree with this obroni. The idiot & his wife should have insisted on being together at the airline counter, and not on board the aircraft. The airline staff at the counter are married people, and therefore know that couples need to be together.
  
  Readers should please take a good look at Ghanaians. Instead of using our brains, we go around cup in hand begging neighbors for common salt just after returning from the market. I have witnessed this stupidity a couple of times. My ex wife and current one and like most Gh women don't believe in preparing a LIST!!!

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• kwabena ohemeng,london 8 years ago

  Thanks Mr Obiri for your contribution.That is why the imperialists overthrew Osayefo and hate Mugabe to the core.Our leaders are selling our resources to foreign nations and companies for a pittance and the results are there ...
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  Thanks Mr Obiri for your contribution.That is why the imperialists overthrew Osayefo and hate Mugabe to the core.Our leaders are selling our resources to foreign nations and companies for a pittance and the results are there for all to see-poverty,unemployment and deprivation in all african countries.What our leaders know how to do best is going round with cups in their hands begging for financial aid and bail-outs.

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• kwabena ohemeng,london 8 years ago

  We have not learned any lesson from the coup of 1966 which gave America the chance to destroy the economy of Ghana.Through the IMF America is again destroying Ghana's economy through the imposition of austerity and neo-libera ...
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  We have not learned any lesson from the coup of 1966 which gave America the chance to destroy the economy of Ghana.Through the IMF America is again destroying Ghana's economy through the imposition of austerity and neo-liberal economic policies on the nation.No wonder businesses and ghanaians are worse off under IMF bailout and it will continue to be so until the economic 'umblical cord'between Ghana and the IMF is severed.

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• George Nutsugah 8 years ago

  Dr Gatsi is putting forth some ideas but unfortunately, the business people are not in agreement with him. Dr Gatsi is talking textbook economics and the business people are talking about the reality in the market place. It l ...
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  Dr Gatsi is putting forth some ideas but unfortunately, the business people are not in agreement with him. Dr Gatsi is talking textbook economics and the business people are talking about the reality in the market place. It looks like an attempt to convince people that black is white. Dr Gatsi is totally wrong. Businesses are hurting further under the IMF programme.

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