The president of the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) Dr Joseph Obeng says the country risks suffering a prolonged financial downturn if the current mismanagement and bad policies being implemented by state actors is not checked.
He blamed the current economic crisis in the country to bad policies which are being undertaken by the state adding that it needs to be tackled by Headon.
He maintained that confidence in the economy is waning as a result of the DDEP and the government must restore confidence in the banking system.
“I am afraid we will go back to the dark ages where people were afraid to send money to the bank, hide it under their beds because the Revolutionaries confiscated it , it took so many decades of education to change that mindset for people to trust the banks again,” he stated.
He called on the government to ensure prudent macro and micro economic management and ensure fiscal discipline to restore some semblance of confidence in the economy.
Speaking at the annual Graphic Business/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra today, Dr Obeng tasked the government to tread cautiously to avert the situation where business people will trade excessively with their monies instead of investing in the banks and other financial sectors.
Re-look of Investment Laws
He noted that the government must re-look at the investment laws in the country to protect retailers in the country from foreign traders.
He suggested a re-jig to make it impossible for foreigners to participate in the retail market.
“What GUTA wants is for the government to ensure that these foreign entities and retailers save money for importation of goods with the Bank of Ghana 9BoG) or any state financial entity to reduce the forex exchange and prevent a situation where they bring their goods, sell them and repatriate their monies,” he stated.