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Business News for Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Source: GNA
2020-11-10
¢ 600 million GH has been disbursed to SMEs to face the shocks of the coronavirus
President Nana Akufo-Addo has said that the government has disbursed GH ¢ 600 million to 200,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as loans under the Coronavirus Relief Program to help their recovery.
He said the government has launched a 2 billion Ghana Credit Guarantee Scheme under the Ghana Credit Program that would provide guarantees for banks to make loans to businesses affected by the pandemic.
“We have also launched a ¢ 100 billion GH CARES that will guarantee a fast-paced economy, but this cannot be achieved without a partnership with the private sector,” he said.
This was in a speech read on his behalf at this year’s Ghana Economic Forum on the topic: “Restarting the economy beyond COVID-19; Building Economic Resilience and Self-Sufficiency ”, organized by Business and Financial Times.
Loan recipients have a moratorium of up to one year and a two-year repayment period with an interest rate of 3%.
According to the 2015 University of Ghana study, the SME sector contributes around 70% of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and represents around 92% of the country’s businesses.
He said that thanks to hard work and prudent management of the economy by the government, Ghana had achieved modest success across the socio-economic space with the country having one of the fastest GDP growth rates in Africa and the world.
The president said that before the emergence of COVID-19, the economy was inclined to grow 6.8 percent in 2020, with an average GDP growth rate of 7 percent, while inflation was targeting 8 percent. , 2 percent and the tax debt was projected at 4.7 percent.
He said that all these economic indicators suggested that the country had an economy with solid fundamentals and was prepared to improve it.
“These indicators of good performance had led our country to become a recipient of foreign direct investment in West Africa with approximately 12.7 billion dollars since we took office,” he said.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, in a mid-year budget statement, said the economy was expected to grow at 0.9 percent, with inflation expected to reach double digits.
He called for a partnership with Ghanaian companies to build a world-class economy for sustainable development.
Data from the Bank of Ghana’s Composite Index of Economic Activities shows that the economy is responding positively due to robust interventions implemented by the government.
He said the GDP growth rate was set at 2 percent due to rising business and consumer confidence after the government lifted movement restrictions after the shutdown.
It stated that credit from the banking sector and the private sector had grown from GHS 35 billion to GHS over 45 billion, while assets had increased from GHS over 100 billion to over GHS 133 billion.
President Akufo-Addo said the government will continue to institute proactive measures towards the recovery of the economy and to mitigate the effects of COVID 19 on businesses.
Dr. Godwin Acquaye, Executive Director of the Ghana Economic Forum, said that COVID-19 has changed all sectors of the economy and that it was necessary for the government to develop strategies to resist future pandemics.
He said the forum will provide a platform for stakeholders to share ideas on the economic agenda for the government to reshape its policy document for national development.
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