Dr Kinsgley Amoako, a Member of the National Economic Dialogue Planning Committee, has called for a sustainable financing strategy to champion Ghana’s economic reset for transformation.
The strategy should create a Ghana development finance platform, and comprehensive domestic revenue mobilisation and build long-term agreements with our major external financing partners.
Those strategies, the Development Economist, said should be effectively aligned with the country’s vision for economic transformation, with a focus on achieving them in the next decade to drive growth, and create sustainable jobs for Ghanaians.
He spoke at the opening of the National Economic Dialogue, held on Monday, March 3, at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), aimed at providing solutions to address the current economic crisis and reach a consensus on essential policies for the country’s recovery.
That was necessary in Ghana’s economic reset agenda as the economic performance in terms of the average income earned by a citizen (Gross National Income per capita), is often stagnant for a long period.
“Ghana’s Gross National Income per capita sat stagnant at less than US$400 for almost 40 years, between 1962 and 1999. But since 2000, it has increased to about US$2,400,” he said.
“It should not take another 50 years for Ghana to become an upper middle-income country. And I hope that this administration’s reset will include raising our ambition. We can, and we must, become a developed economy in the next 20 years,” he noted.
To shift from this situation, Dr K. Y Amoako said the Ghana development finance platform, he said should be used to coordinate the flow of development assistance into the country, assess progress on policy reforms and programmes and ensure that “resources are not duplicative, wasted, or misaligned with our development vision.”
Regarding the long-term agreements with major external financing partners, he cited the case of Pakistan, where a 10-year agreement with the World Bank has led to the provision of US$20 billion in financial support to the country.
Such long-term partnership, he said, was ideal for Ghana’s economic reset and transformation, urging the government to explore those avenues.
Speaking about domestic revenue mobilisation, the Development Economist called for effective strategies to curb illicit financial flows, harnesses remittances, and ensure fair taxation to fuel public services and investments.
“The overall goal of this strategy would be to mobilise significantly increased financing coupled with rigorous expenditure management for the next ten years to support our development, underpinned by a strong accountability mechanism,” Dr K. Y Amoako, said.
While applauding President John Dramani Mahama for the dialogue, he recommended that the discussions should focus on concrete policy reforms, institutional strengthening, and strategic investments to stabilise the economy, drive growth, and create jobs in the medium to long-term.
GNA
