Give businesses stimulus package for economy to pick up – Koans Estate CEO

Mr Kofi Anokye, the CEO of Koans Estate Limited

A key real estate developer has urged the government to give businesses in Ghana a stimulus package to enable the struggling economy pick up in growth.

Speaking in an exclusive interview, the CEO of Koans Estate Limited, Mr Kofi Anokye, was optimistic that when the government decides on the fiscal stimulus package, that will be better for the economy.

Mr Anokye said the reversal of the benchmark value was due to the unbridled market economy, as individuals do business with the falling value of local currency. The trading system causes prices and goods to rise, and that does not help the government to manage the economy effectively.

He said the free market economy in Ghana is so poorly developed that “all that our businesses does is to just import and forget that they have to also to export something that can reflect on our exchange rate to boost our economy.”

He stated that the Government can reduce the rate of capital flight by implementing a policy which obliges the foreign companies which do business in the country and repatriate foreign exchange to their countries of origin to retain a specified amount of their profits in Ghana.

“We take like let’s say $100 million and the government can decide that instead of taking away all, we need to divide it into two for the government take one art and the foreigner also take another to help sustain the depreciation of our cedi,” he noted.

The Koans CEO said the rate of depreciation of the cedi is alarming, and that causes the government to be held responsible, adding that Dr Mahmoudu Bawumia got it all wrong when he stated that he had arrested the cedi, locked it and gave the keys to the Inspector-General of Police.

According to him, the government should deliberately depreciate the local currency for exports to fetch foreign currency. “Let me make it point blank that now exporters are jubilating,” he lamented.

Mr Anokye arguthat this is not the time to blame the government but rather to change of style of doing business in the market space.

He reiterated that businesses will now think of how to sell our local products from either Brazil or other Europe country.

The central government may have certain control over our currency and Ghanaians will hold them accountable for that.

Mr Anokye pointed out that the first four years of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led administration was involved in many social interventions without providing massive infrastructure projects.

“It is now that he has started massively with infrastructural projects, definitely the currency will depreciated,” he contended.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/ Joseph Nana Yaw Cobbina