Work Solely In Restoring Economic Stability Than Pushing Burden On Citizens- Prof. Gatsi To Government
The Dean of the University Of Cape Coast School Of Business, Professor John Gatsi has urged the government to work solely in restoring the economic stability of the country than pushing all the burdens on Ghanaians.
Prof. Gatsi noted this whilst contributing to discussions on the recent update by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on Ghana’s economy.
According to the Finance Minister, securing the extended credit facility from the International Monetary Fund does not mean an automatic end to the economic challenges facing the country.
Moreover, the IMF programme comes rather as a forerunner to the execution of a programme that will bring about the needed economic reforms.
Prof. Gatsi in response to this statement in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on Starr lamented the continuous difficulties ordinary citizens experience due to measures government take in restructuring the economy.
“I think sacrificing is inevitable but I think there should be a major level of sacrificing and indeed Ghanaians have gone through a major level of sacrificing already. To pile on more sacrificing on them is a burden”.
“The government should not off-load burdens to Ghanaians. Whatever engagement that the government will have with the IMF programme it should not waste time. What we need now is for the government to begin work”.
He continued: “If you want to engage the people on more about what they have sacrificed so far I think that will not be a nice thing. What needs to be done is for the government to get to work and forget about some things they call engagement. Only to go and impose the will of the government on the people”.
Pensioner Bondholders for instance are pressurizing the government to settle their unpaid matured coupons.
The government in addressing their concerns said it has not intentionally neglected the payment of their outstanding coupons but the delay is caused by the unavailability of funds and the economic challenges in recent times.
Staff and citizens are also being burdened with taxes which is making living conditions very difficult for citizens.
Prof. Gatsi believes such concerns must be addressed by the government to make the difficult situation less for Ghanaians.