The Director of Business Operations at Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson has expressed his disappointment in President Akufo-Addo for saying that Ghana will soon go back to the international capital market.
He said the comments by the President is baffling as the country is not yet out of the woods from the current economic downturn.
According to him, President Akufo-Addo and the government should take some time before going to the international capital market to contract new loans.
“I am not clear in my mind whether the president is talking about borrowing in the next year or so, or whether he is referring to borrowing from the international Eurobond or commercial paper market in the next three or four years because we haven’t even finished negotiating with the current creditors.”
“We haven’t dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s. We have a commitment as to the way forward, but the deal hasn’t been finalized yet, so going back to the market baffles me a bit,” he said in an interview with Citi FM on Wednesday, May 24.
Mr Jackson added that the government should not consider going for new loans until the economy has been stabilized.
“Where the country’s revenue has demonstrably gone up, where we have reduced the size of the government, and where we have made an attempt at structural changes that will make the economy sustainable. We are not at that point yet.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo speaking during an engagement at the Qatar-Africa Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday, May 23, said Ghana will soon return to the International Capital Market.
Mr Akufo-Addo said this will enable his government to get the needed funding to execute its mandate.
According to him, the shutting of the capital market to the country has been of great worry to him and his government.
“We have positioned ourselves to be able to go back into the International market which had been a source of funding for us during the first three or four years of our government,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo also said his government will embark on rigorous expenditure cuts and revenue mobilisation exercises.
According to him, this is necessary to limit waste in the management of the country’s resources.
“Rationalisation of our expenditure, rationalisation of government expenditure is something that we have given the assurance. Domestic revenue mobilisation is absolutely critical for us and already we are seeing signs.”
“We have a fiscal responsibility law in Ghana that has pegged our fiscal deficit at 5 percent but already we are way above that and the sooner we can bring that to more acceptable levels the better for us.”
But Mr Jackson is urging the President and his government to hasten slowly with moves to contract new loans.
