Economist Prof. Godfred Bokpin
Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin urged Ghanaians to be prepared for more difficulties.
He said the current economic difficulties are not going to end any time soon.
“Looking at the current measures built into the 2022 budget and the enhanced measures and the output, both in terms of debt sustainability and many other things, it doesn’t look so good and we don’t need to ‘be diplomatic about it,’ he said on Saturday, June 18, during Newsfile.
Contributing to the inflation-centric discussion, Professor Bokpin denounced the current state of the economy and said it was having a negative impact on citizens.
“We have austerity before our eyes and fiscal consolidation, either we do it under an IMF program or the measures we impose on ourselves tell us that the fiscal consolidation we are implementing requires adjustment costs that will be borne by citizens, often unequally distributed… and that should tell you that we are not going to get out of this anytime soon,” he said.
He said the recent rise in fuel prices, rising inflation and general economic hardship have prevented many workers from putting money aside from their earnings.
“If you are an average worker in Ghana and you look at the proportion of your expenditure on food, rent, transport and the like, it is practically very difficult to save. You can understand why our savings rate in this country is very low while our need for investment is high.
This gap will then turn to the liberalization of the environment and make it so conducive for foreign investors to fill the gap to achieve our economic dream underpinned by the strategy.
When it happens this way, it will be difficult for the average Ghanaian to achieve significant savings in order to take advantage of even the limited economic opportunities available,” Bokpin explained.
He added that another cause of the inability of workers to save is the burden imposed on them by the state through numerous tax obligations, stressing that these are all factors that contribute to the difficulties experienced by citizens.
He therefore called on the government to inject more commitment into the management of the situation, despite its previous interventions.
