Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting: Quarter 4 edition on Wednesday
The quarter four edition of the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting will be held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, November 9, 2022.
The pre-budget meeting, to be held on the theme: “17 Times too many! What should we stop doing and start doing as a people?”, is expected to attract personalities from academia, civil society organisations, international organisations, trade associations, among others, to discuss and make recommendations into the 2023 budget, which is expected to be laid before Parliament later in the month.
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The meeting is arguably the most patronised and influential thought-leadership event in the country, and the theme has been divided into three main perspectives to offer panel members the opportunity to discuss in detail the issues and proffer solutions for consideration in the budget.
They are: “The Challenge; What is, Has been and Why”; “Alternative Homegrown Solutions, Options and Requirements” and “What Ghana Must Do Differently”.
Economic challenges
The event comes off at a crucial time when the economy is facing one of its worst challenges in decades as a result of a number of factors, including the outbreak of the COVD-19 pandemic and the raging Russia/Ukraine war.
Inflation hovered around 37.2 per cent in September and was projected to rise even further in October, while the local currency has depreciated since the beginning of the year, with interest rates hovering around 33 per cent, at the minimum.
Fuel prices have, since January this year, risen by more than 160 per cent, with no end in sight, a phenomenon which has consistently pushed transport fares up almost every quarter since the beginning of the year.
According to the Bank of Ghana, the country’s stock of gross international reserves declined to US$6.6 billion, equivalent to 2.9 months of import cover for goods and services in September 2022.
This compares with the December 2021 position of US$9.7 billion, equivalent to 4.3 months of import cover.
Net international reserves, which exclude encumbered assets and petroleum funds, were estimated at US$2.7 billion as of September 2022.
The World Bank, in its Africa Pulse Report released in October, projected that Ghana would end the year with a debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of 104 per cent.
In its quest to reverse the trend, the government has resorted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a much needed bailout meant to, among other things, restore investor confidence in the badly bruised economy and for balance of payment support.
These, among many other failing economic indicators, speak volumes about how the economy is in dire need of ideas to get it back on track.
Many have described the current situation as extremely dire, while the President has called it a ‘crisis’.
Rallying support
In his last address to the nation, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo rallied the citizenry behind his government to end the crisis and restore the economy back to its former glory.
It is against this background and more that the Graphic Business/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting at this time of the year is apt, as participants and panellists are expected to make some viable suggestions to help the managers of the economy navigate the situation at hand.
The sponsor of the event, Stanbic Bank, is optimistic that the meeting will once again live up to its billing to help the government come up with a budget that will resonate with the people and help turn the economic fortunes around for all.