ISSER boss commends govt

September 16, 2008 pg 54

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru

THE Director of the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, has commended the government for investing in the areas of education, health care and infrastructure development.
He said, however, that despite the investments in these areas, the country had performed poorly in adding value to it’s produce and increasing agricultural yields.
Prof. Aryeetey, who was speaking at the launch of a book on Ghana’s economy in Accra on Friday, therefore, stressed the need for the government to reconsider changing the structure of the economy to make it possible to use public expenditure to promote value addition.
He said the focus should be on how to promote growth in agriculture and how to link it with industry.
The 424-page book titled, “The Economy of Ghana: Analytical Perspectives on Stability, Growth and Poverty”, was co-editored by Prof. Aryeetey and Prof. Ravi Kanbur, an international Professor of applied economics and management.
The book traces Ghana’s post-independence growth, the current micro and macro economic growth and challenges, as well as the impact of the balance of trade. It takes stock of Ghana’s achievements in the areas of education, health care and economy in the last 50 years.
Prof. Aryeetey said the country’s growth rate for the past 12 years had been good, with an average of five per cent, saying that “the economy has come a long way”.
He indicated that the economy faced some challenges “but not in a difficult situation”, adding that “we can correct it”.
Prof. Aryeetey said the economy could be said to be decent because it had performed better than many African countries, but it could not be said to be remarkable, since about 12 African countries, including Tanzania and Malawi, had performed better than Ghana.
“Ghana’s economic performance is decent but not remarkable,” he stressed.
Touching on the book, Prof. Aryeetey said the book was an attempt to stimulate development debates in Ghana.
He said the book was for people who liked history, and indicated that the contents of the book represented what was found in a typical African economy.
Prof. Kanbur mentioned the growing level of inequality among people and regions, how Ghana could play a key role in the global trading system and how to use the oil wealth as the three economic challenges facing the country in the next 10 years.
He, therefore, charged the government to consider reversing the trend by ensuring sustained growth with a focus on agriculture.
Prof. Kanbur said countries such as Malaysia and India were entering the labour market with unskilled labour, and added that Ghana being a small country could not compete with them in that area, hence the need for the country to build on its comparative advantage, which is land-based resource or agriculture.
He said the expected oil wealth should be managed judiciously to propel the growth of the country’s economy.
Dr Daniel Twerefou of the Economics Department of the University of Ghana, who reviewed the book, said it was a comprehensive data for understanding Ghana’s economy.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nana J.B. Siriboe, who chaired the function, expressed the hope that the book could be used to shape policies that would bring about the needed growth of the economy.