Ghana’s Economic Recovery Journey Is Daunting– Kwame Pianim

Economist, Kwame Pianim is doubting government’s ability to improve the country’s economic quagmire within the shortest possible time.

He attributes the severity of the challenges to government’s incompetence, corruption, and huge appetite for reckless borrowing, insisting that the government must demonstrate commitment to put these in check.

Speaking to Citi Business News, Kwame Pianim said government must heed to recommendations from industry players and shift attention to growth and fiscal sustainability to reverse the current crisis.

“It is going to be very difficult to get the economy back if we don’t change drastically how we develop. We have to cut our coat according to our cloth and ensure that there is value for all the money we get.  Let’s get rid of incompetence and corruption because those two are important to the management of the economy. Why was Ken Ofori-Atta able to borrow so recklessly? Now that we are in the gutter, we know what debt sustainability is”, he said.

The renowned economist further opined that procurement agencies as well as value-for-money audits be scrapped, arguing that such agencies give room for people to engage in corruption.

“All the procurement agencies, value for money audit, we scrap all of them. Because they provide avenues for people to just take monies and we need to get it off, incompetence and corruption, those two are important. The management of the economy is not too difficult if there’s no corruption,” Kwame Pianim suggested.