A former deputy finance minister under the erstwhile John Dramani Mahama-led administration and spokesperson on economy for the John Mahama campaign, Mona Quartey, says the economic crisis facing the country is a result of the recklessness of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
She said that despite the crisis, poor management, and unprecedented levels of incompetence and hardship, the NDC will reset the economy and provide Ghanaians with better leadership.
She noted that the NDC intends to reset the economy following the reckless mismanagement of the ruling NPP.
Madam Quartey emphasized that Ghana belongs to all of us and can be fixed, and the NDC will address it in 2025.
The manifesto of the NDC she indicated was not a manifesto of promises, but a manifesto that lists policies that will be able to reset the economy, she told Kwabena Agyapong on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM.
Madam Quartey lamented that we are locked out of the international market with our inability to borrow to develop the country, and we have also not had any major infrastructural development over the last 8 years since the NPP took over.
The major policy of the NDC in turning things around, she said, was the 24-hour economy, which affects all the key sectors of the economy and will be a game changer.
She explained that this is a policy that the NDC will encourage—it is not a policy that would be imposed—but we will encourage the private sector and public sector to consider it in order to increase jobs and growth in the in the economy, productivity, and our GDP.
‘’So we will put in laws and regulations to support this game-changing policy. We will also create an enabling environment in terms of infrastructure and exemptions to support businesses so that this policy will do well. Clearly, it is a policy that will not immediately yield results. But it must be put in place in the first 120 days so that it can be implemented and start to bear results. It will have implications for climate change because we are seeing the effects. We will manage our natural resources properly; all illegal mining activities will be brought to a minimum; we will register all illegal miners; and we will train them in formal mining so they will do it with a formal approach. There would be no mining in our forest reserves,’’ she declared.
She also assured Ghanaians that all the promises made by the NDC will require capital; hence, a new Mahama-led administration will maintain macroeconomic stability by creating fiscal space and reducing the budget deficit.
‘’We have to be careful about our revenue and cannot continue burdening Ghanaians. So we will scrap some of the taxes. This will mean a reduction in revenue. But we will make gains in managing expenditures. We all know there’s been reckless expenditure by this current government. but we will manage expenditures very prudently and critically. We will use the GIFMIS system to control government expenditure, and we will cut out efficiencies.’’
Madam Mona Quartey went on to state that the 60 ministers Mahama has promised to work with form part of efforts to run an efficient and lean government while appointing competent support staff.
On debt, she said Ghana’s debt is in such a mess that the NDC will establish a debt management office to manage our debt smartly and sustainably ‘’because the debt is in a major mess. We are down in debt, and we must bring it to a sustainable level so that we can access the international market and get the capital to establish the rail sector to support the economy.
She added that the new NDC government will prioritise agriculture and industry, create food security, and add value to cocoa, cassava, and other crops for export and feed industry.
‘’So we will encourage people, entrepreneurs, and employers through education and training to take up this 24-hour economy, build our infrastructure, and transform our economy, and this will be heavy on the youth because the youth are the ones who are creative, and creativity is a known key for prosperity and leadership. We will see a see a major impact or improvement in our transportation sector, the trade sector, and other sectors, Madam Quartey stressed.
Source: rainbowradioonline.com
