Ghana will work again - Bawumia

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has shared government’s roadmap for revitalising the economy with Ghanaians living in London and Washington D.C. and other stakeholders in the United States of America.

According to him, government’s mission is to make Ghana the most successful and business-friendly economy in Africa.

Dr Bawumia and his delegation, comprising Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo, Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta, Governor of the Central Bank Dr Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison, Chairman of the Finance Committee Yaw Frimpong Addo, CEO of GIPC Yoofi Grant and the President’s Advisor for Media and Special Projects, met the Ghanaians, investors, bond holders, US government officials and other key stakeholders when they participated in the 2017 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Meeting in Washington.

According to a statement, Dr Bawumia has been consistent with the message that “government will control the debt and get Ghana working again.”

The statement said towards the end of 2016, investors and the international community expressed concerns over Ghana’s debt profile, which ballooned from $9.5billion in 2008 to $122billion in 2016. However, Dr Bawumia and his delegation in their engagements have emphasised that an immediate focus for the Akufo-Addo administration is to restructure the country’s existing debt away from the current short term, high interest loans to longer term, and lower interest loans that will save Ghanaian tax payers money.

“International investors demonstrated their confidence in this government’s strategy two weeks ago when they flocked to purchase $2.25billion in cedi denominated bonds which would be used as part of the re-profiling to replace the more expensive debt with less expensive debt,” the statement said.

Dr Bawumia and Mr Ofori-Atta articulated government’s plan to increase revenue by fighting corruption, erasing ghost workers from the payroll, lowering taxes, addressing the energy crisis and creating an environment that is conducive to investment.

The delegation also laid out plans to improve the country’s infrastructure, increase efficiency at the ports, and establish a national ID and address system.

The delegation will return to Accra today, Tuesday 25 April.