Business News of Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Source: Daily Guide

Adopt national development plan – ACET boss

President of the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), Dr. Kofi Y. Amoako has called on Government to adopt a unified national development plan through broad consultations with the private sector, civil society groups and think-tanks.

“Active collaboration between the State and the private sector is at the core of economic transformation, and that means regular contact between government and business interests and shared goals,” Dr. Amoako said.

Dr. Amoako disclosed this while speaking at a just-ended three-day National Economic Forum held at Akosombo in the Eastern Region.

The plan, when adopted, would among other things, help transit Ghana from the current economic crisis it is confronted with, he mentioned.

It would additionally serve as a policy guideline for Ghana’s future generation of leaders.

He said transformation was a long-term process which could take about 20 to 30 years to be achieved and therefore cautioned against frequently abandoning development plans by Government.

“Frequent shifts in strategy or abrupt policy changes impede progress,” Dr Amoako said, adding that the new vision, when adopted, should transcend politics.

Dr. Amoako, commenting on the economy, predicted that the country’s current fiscal imbalance, if maintained at current trends, could result in an “untenable domestic debt position” in about three years.

He noted that Ghana was facing extensive economic difficulties fueled by major macro-economic imbalances.