2022 budget: Stakeholders in manufacturing sector demand policies for stable economy

On November 17, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to present the budget statement for the 2022 fiscal year.

Ahead of this presentation, stakeholders are hopeful that issues such as Ghana’s debt sustainability, illicit financial flows, unemployment, reduction of the revenue and expenditure gap, and many others will be addressed.

Managing Director of fast moving consumer goods company and manufacturer of the Gino and Pomo range of products, GB Foods Ghana, David Afflu believes it will be welcoming to have policies which will ensure the stability of the economy in order to boost production.

We know how COVID-19 has ravaged this economy so we want to see policies which will ensure that this economy remains robust and stable. From the macroeconomic environment, inflation, taxes, our currency, duties and all of that. Relative to our realities in this country today, we’d expect the budget presentation to reflect that reality and as players, we’ll continue to do our business and provide our products at an affordable price to the consumers while making a little money for our shareholders,” he said to Citi Business News.

Ghana’s manufacturing sector declined by 14.3% in the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the economic shocks of the coronavirus pandemic.

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This is according to a report by the World Bank titled, Ghana’s Economic Update: Structural Transformation and Labor Market Performance, Challenges and Opportunities.

The report, which is the fifth in the World Bank’s annual series on Ghana’s economic development and prospects dated October 2020, further noted that Ghana’s economy may have begun to deindustrialize prematurely, with the manufacturing sector’s share of employment peaking at a time when the national income in Ghana is lower than it was in other countries.

Ghana’s economy lacks complexity, as suggested by its exports, which are dominated by primary products, such as oil, cocoa, and gold. And the level of complexity in the economy appears to have changed little over the last decade” the report said.