Dr. Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, the executive director of the Danquah Institute, has asked Ghanaians to assist the government in its attempts to recover the economy from the present financial crisis.
She asserts that while the government is mostly in charge of creating policies to guide the nation out of its current predicament, it is also our responsibility as citizens to support these efforts by making our fair share of contributions to reviving the economy.
"We are currently faced with unforeseeable problems of the future, which are not issues we as a people have asked for owing to our connection to the global economy and the effect of external forces on our daily lives. We truly do not enjoy the circumstances we are in, but since we are here, we must work to create our country as a unit.
On Friday, December 9, 2022, Dr. Tsiboe-Darko delivered the remarks during an economic event hosted by the Danquah Institute (DI) in Accra.
The Forum brought together a variety of experts, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), students, and members of the public to discuss how to help the government get through these challenging times under the theme, "Restoring Macroeconomic Stability and Sustainable Economic Growth; Our Collective Responsibility."
Dr. Tsiboe-Darko described how the administration had kept the nation running despite the feared coronavirus outbreak in her speech. She said that until the virus arrived, the administration had effectively managed the country's resources, posting continuous year-over-year inflation in the single digits for 4 years, stabilizing the cedi versus its key trade partners, and maintaining the nation's high growth trajectory.
Since this is not the first time she has found herself in such a precarious economic situation, she claimed that even though Ghana is not the only country suffering from the twin crises of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, something must be done to prevent a recurrence of such circumstances in the future.
Professor Eric Assibey, the forum's chair, Dr. Owusu Adu Sarkodie, Dr. Kwadwo Opoku, another economist at the University of Ghana, Dr. Agyapomaa Gyeke-Darko, Dr. George Domfe, and Dr. Ama Boafo-Arthur, a lecturer at the department of distance education at the University of Ghana, were all present during the discussions.
Dr. Opoku urged the government to enhance its control over currency rates. In order to assist stable the cedi during volatile times, the government must create an Exchange Rate Stabilization Fund, according to him. The government will be better able to control the nation's currency rate regime, he continued.
Dr. Ayapomaa emphasized the necessity for us to be deliberate in how we progress as a nation. She emphasized that this is one of the sustainable ways the government can release itself from the liabilities of these businesses that do not significantly contribute to its revenue, and that the government must move to transform State Owned Enterprises (SOES) into independent businesses that can support themselves.