Speaking in Accra at the Standard Chartered Digital Banking Innovation & Fintech Festival, the Vice President claimed that an over reliance on imports is a significant factor in the economy's collapse.
He continued by suggesting that the government was currently facing trade surpluses that had never been seen before, making it nearly impossible to revive the economy without the support of the general populace.
"Production must shift in nature. Over the past five years, Ghana has steadily increased its trade surpluses, as you can see. We've constantly experienced commerce like this for the first time in roughly 20 years. surpluses on our payment balance. At the same time, we have significant current account deficits, which means that a significant portion of the foreign exchange we earn from trade does not stay in Ghana. One of the issues we need to address is how to lessen our nation's reliance on imports. Ghana, however, cannot be left behind as the global economy realigns to the new reality with greater self-reliance. We also need to pay particular attention to how we can increase domestic production and lessen our reliance on imports for goods that are extremely simple to make in Ghana.
Ghana continues to be a big consumer of food imports, with estimated imports of agriculture and allied items $1.9 billion in 2021 alone.
Source : Ghpage.com