We’ll pass Fiscal Responsibility Law this year — Finance Minister designate
Finance Minister designate, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has reiterated the commitment of the new government to introduce a fiscal stability and responsibility law to curtail huge budget deficits in the country.
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To be able to hold macroeconomic stability in check, he said, the law would ensure that governments declared and committed to the fiscal policy.
At the Ghana-Morocco Economic meeting held in Accra, Mr Ofori-Atta explained that the law, which was expected to provide transparency and sanctions clauses, would be introduced before the close of the year.
“The immediate passage and enforcement of a fiscal responsibility act for the country would be important in this regard if it is supported by political will,” he said.
He added that the government was committed to that effect and would also follow through actions that would attract investors and inspire confidence in the economy.
Mr Ofori-Atta said while the government needed to restore fiscal discipline as a matter of urgency, that alone would not be enough, as restoring the confidence of investors and financial markets required that the country put together a policy framework that would provide assurance to the effect that fiscal excesses would not happen in the future.
Strengthening partnership
The First Vice-President of the GNCC, Mr Clement Osei Amoako, said the meeting was also to strengthen Ghana’s quest to seek cooperation partnership as the best option to drive the country’s development agenda.
“We are, therefore, of the strong conviction that your decision to invest in Ghana, given our unique investment environment, will be largely beneficial to us all,” he added.
He stated that there were a myriad of investment opportunities in the country which cut across all areas of the economy, including agriculture and agro-processing, energy generation and mining, infrastructure and real estate development and information and communications technology.
Bilateral trade
The 2015 International Trade Centre showed that Ghana’s export to Morocco was $3.6 million, which represents 0.03 per cent of Ghana’s total exports, while imports from Morocco amounted to $64.8 million, representing 0.29 per cent of Ghana’s total imports.
He said the figures showed that much of the economic potential that both countries had to offer for the mutual economic benefits remained untapped.
The leader of the Moroccan business delegation, Mrs Miriem Bensalah, stressed that the governments in both countries needed to introduce numerous reforms for the private sector to thrive.
She indicated that the Moroccan delegation had been enthused about Ghana’s investment opportunities in the area of energy generation, mining, real estate, agriculture and tourism.
