Ghana Government will address challenges.

The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has assured Ghanaians that the government will use its remaining term of office to ensure the prudent application and utilisation of resources to address the current challenges confronting the nation.

That, he said, would go a long way to facilitate the expansion of existing manufacturing concerns which would invariably offer employment to the people, particularly the youth.

Receiving the Indian High Commissioner in Accra, Mr Jeeva Sagar, at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday, the Vice-President explained that considering the economic challenges facing the country, it had become incumbent on the government to plough available resources into sectors which would build the capacity of the people and address unemployment problems.

Challenges

Mr Amissah-Arthur attributed the challenges in the economy to both internal and external factors, including the high wage bill and the fall in the prices of export commodities which had resulted in a massive shortfall in revenue.

He explained that the shortfall in revenue had, to a considerable extent, distorted government projections intended to improve the material conditions of the people.

The external shocks, he added, had compelled the government to look within the country to raise revenue which would, in no small measure, offset some aspects of the shortfall in revenue mobilisation.

Mr Amissah-Arthur said the nation's educational institutions turned out hundreds of graduates onto the labour market which seemed to be saturated, noting that it was the government’s responsibility to shore up activities in the critical areas of the economy, especially agriculture and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to create more employment outlets for the teeming graduates.

He said since India had made giant strides in the area of SMEs, the government would continue to draw on its experience to bolster that sector.

Support for Ghana

He thanked the Indian government for its immense assistance in the areas of agriculture, industry and commerce, stressing that Ghana-India relations dated back to the First Republic under Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah .

Mr Amissah-Arthur said the government and the people of Ghana were also very grateful to the Indian government for providing the loan for the construction of the edifice which housed the Presidency.

For his part, Mr Sagar touted Ghana's democratic credentials which, he said, had transformed the country into an attractive destination in West Africa.

He expressed the preparedness of India to share its expertise in agriculture and industry for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

 Source: Daily Graphic